NATION : Latvian Protest for TV Voice Quelled

MOSCOW — Hundreds of police today broke up a protest by demonstrators seeking greater access to state-run media in the Baltic capital of Riga, tearing down banners and arresting 30 people, an activist said.

Dozens of protesters gathered in front of Communist Party Central Committee headquarters in Riga to protest restrictions on Latvian state television, said Boris Sokolov, a member of the Democratic Union, an independent political party. Access to television is considered especially important because of the nationwide campaign before March 26 elections to the Council of People’s Deputies, a new national assembly that is to choose the country’s president and the Supreme Soviet (Parliament).