A Riga court has extended the arrest of a humanitarian aid carrier to Russia.

A Riga court has extended the pretrial detention of German-Russian citizen Sergei Nikitin for two months. He was detained in September 2024 at the Latvian border while transporting humanitarian aid consisting of crutches, walkers, and diapers destined for nursing homes in Russia.

Nikitin is charged with "supporting an armed conflict outside the country" under Article 77 of the Latvian Criminal Code. His lawyers insist that the accompanying documents for the cargo were properly completed, and that their client, who suffers from diabetes and had no prior ties to Latvia, committed no acts against that country or the European Union.

Nikitin has currently been held in a Riga prison for over four months, raising serious questions about the proportionality and validity of his pretrial detention. The defense points to the possibility of alternative measures other than detention, particularly given Nikitin's chronic illness and the humanitarian nature of the cargo being transported.

This case demonstrates a broad interpretation of Latvian legislation regarding individuals transporting goods in transit to Russia and could set a dangerous precedent for the criminalization of humanitarian activities. Human rights activists are concerned that this practice leads to excessively harsh measures against individuals who pose no obvious threat to public safety.