Lithuania has been waiting for justice for 30 years: in the tragic events of January, the court delivered a historic verdict

The panel of judges that heard the criminal case announced that it had partially satisfied the complaints of the victims Robertas and Ona Povilaitis, two convicted persons, and the Attorney General’s Office. the ruling of the Vilnius Regional Court handed down in March.

The judges changed the sentence of the only convicted Yuri Melis, detained so far in 2014, from 10 years in prison to 10 years. Gennady Ivanov, who was living in Vilnius at the time, also received a more severe punishment: he would have to spend 5 years behind bars.

The court also commuted the sentences of fourteen more convicts, at which point the criminal case against Dmitry Jazov, who died during the trial, was dropped.

The panel of judges decided to award jointly and severally more than 10 million LTL to all those convicted. 876 thousand The court awarded 75 thousand euros to Ona Povilaitienė, who lost her spouse at that time, and 50 thousand euros to Robertas Povilaitis, who lost her father. Eur to compensate moral damages.

According to Judge Ernestas Rimšelis, the 67 convicted were brought to justice in 1991 during a military operation. In January, he used force against Lithuanian civilians and killed them.

In response to allegations made by convicted lawyers that Lithuania was unable to hear the events of January, the panel chairman emphasized that the court had relied on a United Nations ruling, as well as the jurisprudence of the European Court of Rights Human, who has clarified that “the national courts of the old regime.”

Blamed 67 people

The criminal case was examined by a panel of judges consisting of Judges Ernestas Rimšelis, Ernesta Montvidienė and Egidija Tamošiūnienė during twelve full-day hearings.

In the Jan. 13 case, charges were brought against 67 people defended by more than 100 state-appointed advocates. Citizens of the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the Republic of Belarus were prosecuted in 1991. He held senior positions in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the Ministries of Defense, Interior, the Committee for State Security (KGB) and its paramilitary units.

Up to 65 people were tried in absentia, were informed about the criminal process in Lithuania through the Ministry of Justice and summons were sent to the residence address. Furthermore, while the process was pending, the judges decided to suspend the execution of the European arrest warrants, thus guaranteeing the unrestricted entry of the accused into Lithuania. However, no accused exercised this right and did not appear in court.

One of the accused, Yuri Mel, a Russian citizen living in the Krasnodar region, is currently in detention. He was arrested in 2014. March, when he arrived in Lithuania. Gennady Ivanov, a Russian national living in Lithuania at the time, was waiting for the verdict to be announced while he was at liberty, but documents were confiscated.

All crimes were committed in 1991. Several important objects from Lithuania were seized in January and deadly clashes broke out on 13 January near the Television Tower and the Radio and Television Committee building.

In this case, the conviction for crimes against humanity dates back to 2019. The month of March was announced by the Vilnius Regional Court, but up to 59 convicted persons, victims and the prosecution appealed against it.

All those convicted were sentenced to between 4 and 14 years in prison. It is true that most of the accused from Russia and Belarus were sentenced in absentia because the states refuse to extradite them.

Sausio 13-osios bylos kaltinamųjų sąrašas: Dmitry Jazov, Gennady Golubkov, Valery Sibiriakov, Vladimir Demidov, Bogdan Sushchik, Vladimir Sofin, Sergei Panikarov, Yevgeny Gavrilov, Ivan Shepfelfelov, Alexander Gomziavilokov, Alexander Gomziakov, Gonchimir Konhelfelvoli, Alexander Vladimir Fevilovilovoli, Vladimir Fevilovilov, Alexander, Vladimir Konchelf Sidorkov, Anatoly Lepichov, Yuri Janochkin, Alexei Filimonov, Anatoly Ivanitsky, Alexander Tsepota, Vladimir Uschopchik, Vladimir Shechovtsov, Grigory Belous, Prokosto Ivanov, Gennady Uschov, Sergei Vorpensonin, Vladimir Sorokin, Yuriny Onda, IgorBayoronitis, Arkadyu Galinakov Oleg Abramov, Nikolai Sakara, Anatoly Urban, Anatoly Kim, Dmitry Filippov, Yuri Mel, Dmitry Bolshakov, Nikolai Ogurtsov, Alexander Korobochkin, Alexander Radkevich, Mikhail Golovgeny Nikolai Demidov, Viktor Shulikov, Vasily Savvin, Alexander, Genukadynikov, Genukadynikov Sergei Fiodorov, Oleg Morkovsky, Viktor Romanchevsky, Michail Chabarov, Yuri Strashnenko, Vladislav Shved, Algimanta s Naudžiūnas, Romas Juchnevičius and Vasily Kustrio.

V. Ushopčikas is the former commander of the Vilnius garrison of the Soviet Army, V. Švedas is the second secretary of the Lithuanian Communist Party and A. Naudžiūnas is the then secretary of the Central Committee of the Lithuanian Communist Party. Prosecutors have offered former Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov and several other defendants to face the most severe punishment: life imprisonment.

During the trial, Jazov died, but the court did not agree to the lawyers’ request to end the criminal proceedings after his death.

Earlier, the Vilnius Regional Court noted that crimes against humanity are not subject to limitation and, during the events of January, Lithuania did not even try to avoid civilian casualties.

It is already the second case

For the first time in Lithuanian history, all material from the pre-trial investigation was digitized. This decision was made not only to facilitate the process, but also because these documents have great historical value. Assistance was received from the Central Archives of the State of Lithuania, where more than 1,500 various archival documents in very poor condition were successfully restored.

The events of January 13 have already been examined in the Lithuanian courts. The Vilnius Regional Court handed down a verdict in a case concerning the establishment of anti-state organizations and other crimes. Mykolas Burokevičius, Juozas Jarmalavičius, Juozas Kuolelis, Leonas Bartoševičius, Stanislavas Mickevičius and Jaroslavas Prokopovičius were later sentenced to prison. S. Mickevičius fled Lithuania.

You can read the facts of this case in the documents adopted by the courts: you can find the judgment of the Court of First Instance by clicking on this link.

The appellate court later reversed this verdict, you can read it by clicking here.

Once again, the sentence was changed in the Supreme Court of Lithuania; You can read the final and unappealable sentence by clicking on this link.

The facts of the case of January 13 also reached the European Court of Human Rights. You can read the decision of this court, which is very important for Lithuania, by clicking on this link.

In response to the ongoing trial on 13 January in Lithuania, the Inquiry Commission of the Russian Federation has initiated criminal proceedings in absentia for alleged unjustified persecution of Russian citizens against Lithuanian officials, prosecutors and judges. Lithuania views this process as an attempt to illegally influence officials in the performance of their duties, and the lawsuits filed in Russia are aimed at misleading the public by spreading false information.