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“My view of the world is changing right now and I don’t think like I did six years ago. I admit that there are people with different points of view and I tolerate them,” Titus said.
But the change in attitude towards non-traditionally oriented people and sincere repentance did not save the young man: the Vilnius city district court determined that the hitherto illegal Titus incited hatred against a group of people because of their sexual orientation .
Judge Mindaugas Ražanskas, who examined the criminal case, announced that Titus was sentenced to six months in prison, forcing him to stay home from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., continue working and register with the Employment Service if you lose your job. .
Usually the court imposes fines on those convicted of such crimes, but this time the court decided to impose a second sentence of leniency under criminal law: Titus has been administratively punished many times, but does not pay fines.
“The court has reason to believe that if TL Vaulin is fined in kind, a fine, TL Vaulin will not pay it, which will not achieve the objectives of the punishment specified in criminal law,” the judge said in the ruling.
According to the court, Titus, who was punished for various misdemeanors, indicated in court that his debts with bailiffs currently amount to around 8,000. EUR.
According to the case data, it was established that in 2014. December 9 Titus wrote a “zudyt” post on Facebook after a photo of two men kissing. According to prosecutors who carried out the pre-trial investigation, he incited hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.
The man was prosecuted following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR): in January last year, the Strasbourg judges declared that Lithuanian law enforcement agencies had unjustifiably discriminated against a Lithuanian gay couple by refusing to initiate an investigation on incitement to hatred against them. in a social network. Lithuanian law enforcement officials concluded that the comments were “inappropriate words” and ruled that this did not constitute a basis for criminal responsibility, and Lithuanian officials called the publication of the photo “eccentric behavior” aimed at “deliberately upset or scandalize “other opinions. .people.
Following the Strasbourg court ruling, the Lithuanian police resumed investigations and Titas was one of dozens of suspects who shared a gay photo on his account and wrote the single word “kill”.
Titus, who was called to the police during the pre-trial investigation, pleaded guilty and said he was very young and thought differently at the time he wrote the comment.
“I admit that I am exaggerating and speaking inappropriately what I think,” the man explained. – I did not want to encourage violence, it was the support of a traditional family. Now, after reading the comment written after the photo, it seems that I wish violence on the boys, but in reality I was overwhelmed by emotions at the time and I chose the words incorrectly. My saying “kill” didn’t mean that I wanted something to happen to the boys in the photo or that I wanted to kill them or that someone else would kill them. That meant I wanted to change these guys’ attitudes toward a man’s love for a man at the time. “
Titus assured that he sincerely regrets the word he wrote, had contacted the victims, apologized, wanted to reconcile with them.
“My view of the world has changed now and I don’t think like I did at the time,” he said.
He also assumed this position in the courts during the criminal proceedings.
“I was very young at the time, recently I came of age, people that age really don’t know what black and white is,” Titus said. “I was living in a small town then, stereotypes guided me, and at that time, the Lithuanian people had little tolerance.”
Titus did not hide the fact that he was surrounded by a “pack feeling”. If everyone thinks that, why should he think otherwise?
“When I saw that photo, I realized that the boys are sending a message that must end in a confrontation between people of non-traditional orientation, I realize that I did not have to write such a comment, I have no logical excuse for my actions. Now, some time after this event, my opinion is different. “
The person in charge pointed out that he regretted this behavior: “I understand that I did bad things.”
During the pre-trial investigation, officers also interviewed the children who were photographed kissing. One of the boys, Pius Beizar, said during a poll that he posted a photo on Facebook to share a moment and was not looking to anger anyone.
“The next day when I got up and opened Facebook, I saw that there was an active comment on the photo I uploaded, the comments shocked me because some were very cruel, I reacted quite sensitively, because the commenters wrote that we need both” brick “and “brick to send the crematorium” or simply to “kill”, these comments openly incited hatred, “said Pio.
The man did not hide that he was intimidated at that time, as many people commented in the photo, who wrote that “they would do something in the street when they met.”
At the time, Mangir Levick, who had been photographed kissing Pius, was unable to explain to police investigators why his friend posted a highly reactive photo on Facebook.
“I think Pius uploaded this photo because he thought there was no reason to hide his orientation, I didn’t survive long because of the uploaded photo because people close to me knew about my sexual orientation,” Mangird said.
At first he ignored the comments, but when Pius later showed them, he was shocked.
“It scared me because almost all the comments referred to us having to ‘burn’, ‘kill’, etc. After those comments, I was even afraid to go out because I thought those commenters might know where I live.” Mangird said he had negative experiences due to public insults, sleeping poorly at night.
Delphi informs that comments written in public space are the responsibility of their authors.
Article 170 of the Penal Code establishes that who, through public statements, orally, in writing or through the media, mocks, despises, incites hatred or incites discrimination against a group of people or a person of their membership for reasons of sex, sexuality, orientation, race, nationality, language, origin, social situation, religion, belief or opinion, is punished with a fine or restriction of freedom, or arrest or imprisonment of up to two years.
Any person who publicly incites violence, physically confronts a group of people or a person belonging to it for reasons of sex, sexual orientation, race, nationality, language, origin, social condition, religion, beliefs or opinions, or finance or otherwise. Materially supports such activities may be punished with a fine or restriction of liberty, or arrest, or imprisonment for up to three years.
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