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“We agreed with Minister Agne Bilotaitė that the Interior Ministry will ask Interpol for a warning to categorically reject any Russian request to illegally persecute Lithuanian officials,” the minister told BNS.
According to him, the Foreign Ministry, in turn, will repeatedly warn all Lithuanian diplomatic missions, partners of the EU and NATO that Russia may try to use legal mechanisms for political purposes.
As Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė later reported, the responsible police officers check the available list of 29 Lithuanian officers related to the case of January 13 every morning in the Interpol database.
“We can only assure you that, at the request of the Russian Criminal Police Office of the Russian Federation, the search will not be carried out on the territory of the Republic of Lithuania. We note that, according to the Interpol Constitution, the member states they are strictly prohibited from participating in any political activity through Interpol, ”he said.
Landsbergis also announced that it had been agreed with the Minister of Justice, Evelina Dobrovolska, that the Ministry of Justice would bring this issue back to the attention of the European Commissioner for Justice, the current German Minister of Justice and the Portuguese Minister of Justice as of January 1st. its relevance.
“Russia is not the first time it has tried to manipulate international institutions to distort history, to deny the crimes of the Soviet regime,” Landsberg told BNS.
Justice Minister E. Dobrovolska stated that the Russian Investigative Committee’s decision to press charges against three Lithuanian judges is another look at the legal system.
“We are protecting our officers. The Ministry of Justice will continue to raise the issue systematically in the EU Council to collectively respond to such politically motivated and illegal published searches of EU citizens.” We cannot allow this to lead to an illegal arrest and a possible extradition, “he told BNS.
The Minister stressed the need to establish a mechanism at the international level to protect EU citizens from unreasonable decisions of third countries.
Russia’s inquiry committee reported Monday that Vilnius Regional Court judges Virginija Pakalnyte-Tamošiūnaitė, Artūras Šumskas and Ainora Kornelia Macevičienė had been charged in absentia with the alleged illegal conviction of Russian citizens. According to Russian officials, Lithuania was not an independent state at that time, it belonged to the USSR and the soldiers sentenced by these judges performed their duties and ensured public order.
“The necessary steps have also been taken to publish the international search for the accused,” the committee said in a press release on Monday.
The three judges of the Vilnius Regional Court found former Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Jazov and more than 60 former Soviet officials and officials guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes last March.
On the night of January 13, 1991, 14 people were killed when Soviet troops stormed the Vilnius television tower and the Radio and Television Committee building.
The Soviets attempted to overthrow the legitimate government of Lithuania by military force, which declared the country’s independence from the Soviet Union on March 11, 1990.
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