Lithuanian Foreign Minister recommends that prosecutors and judges avoid visiting Russia
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Linas Linkevičius recommended that staff members of the Prosecutor General’s office and the Court refrain from visiting the Russian Federation. Russia’s investigative Committee (RIC) has initiated criminal charges against them for illegal prosecution of the participants of the events of January 1991 in Vilnius.
Linkevicius stated on Monday, July 23 that the Russian Committee’s decision was meant to “put pressure on Lithuania, the courts and law enforcement officials." He further stressed that “such actions by Russia undermine bilateral relations.
The Lithuanian Foreign Minister also recommended that officials investigating the events of 1991 also refrain from visiting countries that are friendly to Russia, but he did not specify which countries those might be.
Earlier the same day, the Russia’s Iinvestigative Committee's official spokesperson, Svetlana Petrenko reported on the criminal proceedings instituted against officials of the Prosecutor General’s Office and Court of Lithuania who have prosecuted sixty former servicemen of the Soviet Army since 2006, the majority of which are citizens of the Russian Federation.
"The actions of the officers of the Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office and Court are obviously illegal because the events in Vilnius took place during Lithuania’s membership in the USSR and military units were fulfilling their duty, acting in accordance with the USSR’s laws,” Petrenko stated.
She also noted that the accusations against Russian citizens were not supported by "objective evidence." Furthermore, she stated that the criminal prosecution was conducted according to the Criminal Code adopted in 2011. The practice of retroactive application of laws that increases the punishment "contradicts the generally recognized principles of law and criminal procedure,” the statement reads.
In January 1991, units of the USSR Armed forces seized public buildings in Vilnius. On the night of January 13, the military stormed a TV center. After that, thousands of people supporting the independence of Lithuania took to the streets of the city. Because of the confrontation, 14 people died and more than 700 were injured.
Lithuanian authorities accused Soviet servicemen of causing the deaths. Since the beginning of 2016, the Vilnius Regional Court has considered the case on these events. Most or the defendants are being tried in absentia. The Prosecutor General’s Office demands that the 93-year-old former Soviet Minister of Defense, Dmitry Yazov and the other five defendants guilty of crimes against humanity be found and sentenced to life imprisonment.