U Gleb Panteleeva sculptor and member of the Riga City Council’s Monuments Council, there is no clear answer to the question of whether it is permissible to demolish monuments with Soviet symbols that stand over military graves, as follows from what he said on the air of the “Podrobnosti” program on Latvian Radio 4.
The law on dismantling objects glorifying the Soviet and Nazi regimes stipulated that only monuments under which there are no burials would be demolished, but now discussions have begun about dismantling monuments even if they are located over soldiers’ graves, reports Rus.lsm.lv.
Gleb Panteleev believes that this question cannot be answered with a clear “yes” or “no” since there are several contexts. Prohibited symbols can be removed from monuments in cemeteries and burial sites, but this must be done professionally. After removing large objects of ideological content, the monuments remaining at the burial sites will not have artistic value, Panteleev noted. However, an ethical question arises because cemeteries are a special environment. On the one hand, it is bad to touch cemeteries, on the other hand, it is bad when the burials are located in the central square of a village or city, Panteleev believes.
In his opinion, local governments have the right to independently make decisions about the demolition of monuments on their territory: “If it is in accordance with the law, then why not?“, – he said.
Source: www.gorod.lv
