Other events in Baltic States

According to an article by the Tvnet news portal in Latvia, Latvian mixed martial arts fighter Edgars Skriveris took to the ring in a competition in Sweden in December of 2016 using the anthem of the so-called Islamic State, reports LETA.

The incident happened at the Battle of Botnia fight show in the Swedish city of Umea in December of 2016, when Skriveris took to the ring using the song Salil al-Sawarim, known as a song which promotes the Islamic State.

A person in the audience who recognized the song then informed event organizers.

Swedish police were also involved, but no charges were made after determining the circumstances of the incident.

Meanwhile, Skriveris claims to LETA that he did not know this song was associated with the Islamic State. However, he added that he is a converted Muslim.

''After the event, the organizers approached me and were very surprised about the incident. Before that, I did not even know this was an anthem of the Islamic State. I had heard another fighter using it before, and I liked it and used it myself before the fight,'' he said, adding that he is against Islamic radicalism.

After the fight, he had a conversation with the organizers of the event as well as local police. ''I told them this was a misunderstanding, and that was it,'' he said, adding that after returning home he also had a conversation with the Security Police.

Meanwhile, the Security Police admitted to Latvia that they are informed about this incident.