The airline's representative in the Baltic countries told Leta that reference to the monument in the in-flight magazine was a mistake made by the author of the article, which arose from using unchecked sources. He said the next issue of the BA magazine would contain a retraction. The director of the Latvian Institute, Ojars Kalnins, will meet a BA representative on Monday to discuss the retraction and rewording of the article in the next edition of the magazine, Leta said. The Freedom Monument was unveiled in 1935 during Latvia's brief period of independence between the wars. The statue has been a symbol of the Baltic people's striving for independence and many demonstrations have begun or ended there.
People still bring flowers to the monument which are tended to by the city's elderly women.
In the Soviet period, people who laid flowers at the foot of the statue were regularly sent to Soviet labour camps. The city celebrates the 800th anniversary of its founding in 1201 this year and the monument is being completely restored ahead of the culmination of the anniversary celebrations on 19th August.