Gunārs Astra (22 October 1931 – 6 April 1988) was a Latvian human rights activist and an anti-Soviet dissident who was arrested by the Soviet Union in 1961, and was sentenced to prison for 15 years.
Because Astra was a very erudite and industrious worker, he was granted a promotion and became chief of the 7th Radio manufacturing workshop.
This encounter had a great influence on him in his later life, allowing him to consider Western culture and develop an innate opposition to Communism and the USSR.
In 1961, Astra was accused of spying, promoting anti-Soviet propaganda, and homeland betrayal, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
There is a commemorative plaque on the District Court building in Riga where Astra was sentenced, and a street in the capital bears his name.