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Attorney General Nida Grunskienė 15 minutes confirmed on Sunday that, in response to the forced landing of the aircraft, Lithuanian police launched a pre-trial investigation into the hijacking and enforced disappearance of the aircraft on Sunday. The investigation is carried out by the Lithuanian Criminal Police Office.
“The pre-trial investigation was initiated in accordance with articles 100-1, 251 of the Penal Code. Paragraph 4, ”said the Attorney General.
D.Galimas: there is something to investigate
The president of the Constitutional Court, law professor Dainius Žalimas, stated that an accurate legal assessment of the actions of the Belarusian regime is not yet possible due to lack of information, but primary information suggests that there are grounds for investigations under the articles of the Law. Criminal Code.
Photo by Žygimantas Gedvila / 15min / Dainius Žalimas
“To make an accurate legal assessment, the details of how everything went are missing. It is possible to speak of violations of the rules of international flights. With regard to individuals, it is appropriate to examine whether there are signs of crime. ” 15 minutes said D. Žalimas.
Massive political persecution is taking place in Belarus and this is just one of the episodes.
“As for R. Protasevičius, an enforced disappearance can be analyzed if his fate is no longer known. He has been kidnapped by government officials in this way. If his fate were somehow known, there would be another criminal composition: the persecution of a group of people for political reasons. There are massive political persecutions in Belarus and this is only one of the episodes. As far as we know, there are reasons to say that there is something to investigate, “said the lawyer.
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These acts are crimes against humanity and, therefore, are subject to universal jurisdiction; crimes committed abroad can also be prosecuted.
According to D.Žalimas, there are also doubts about the illegal restriction of freedom, because the freedom of Lithuanian citizens who flew by plane was also restricted for at least some time.
According to D. Žalimas, the evaluation of Belarus’ actions as state terrorism, as described by the leaders of Lithuania and Poland, can only be evaluated from a political aspect, not a legal one.
Gathering evidence will be challenging
Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University Mykolas Romeris Justinas Žilinskas 15 minutes The prosecutor argued that the prosecution made its own decision on which article to classify the facts, but based on the information currently available, the lawyer expressed doubts about the selected articles.
Article 100-1 of the Penal Code. establishes responsibility for enforced disappearance when a person or persons acting with the permission, support or consent of the State have detained, kidnapped or otherwise deprived a person of their liberty and when recognition of said detention is denied, kidnapping or deprivation of liberty or the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person is hidden.
Photo from personal album / Justinas Žilinskas
“I think it will be really difficult to prepare an argument in the pre-trial investigation, if it goes further, because there are a lot of details in both articles. First, enforced disappearances are related to a situation where a person is abducted but is unknown. As for the arrest of this journalist, it is not clear if it will really be a 100-1 article situation. But, of course, the ratings may change. ” 15 minutes commented the lawyer.
It will not be easy to collect evidence under another article of the Penal Code, which establishes responsibility in the event of hijacking an aircraft for terrorist purposes.
“Article 251 (4) in particular can be problematic, since proving terrorist targets is quite a complex matter and usually the attribution of terrorist targets is directed at a natural person, here the acts were probably committed by state agents”, J. Žilinskas said.
“I think there is a lot of work waiting for our prosecution,” he added.
The lawyer pointed out that similar investigations in other countries took a long time because the other party was reluctant to cooperate. He remembered a Malaysian airline plane shot down over the Donbass.
The process, like all legal processes, will be long, but it is good that you started without expecting anything.
“The process, like any judicial process, will be long, but it is still good that it has started without expecting anything,” emphasized the interlocutor.
Other countries can join
It is true that he did not dare to predict how this pre-trial investigation would end.
“A pre-trial investigation, if it is established that a crime has been committed, becomes a case in court. The suspects are identified, various procedural steps are taken, the indictment is drawn up and delivered to the courts.
In the future, it is possible to appear in court in any way: Lithuania has established what is called universal jurisdiction in its criminal law, and these two crimes under which pre-trial investigations have been initiated are crimes of universal jurisdiction. It is very difficult to predict what will end, it all depends a lot on the circumstances, “said the lawyer.
According to him, this case also has the right to be investigated by other countries, because the plane had citizens of several European Union (EU) countries, the plane was sublet to a Polish company.
“Jurisdiction belongs to those whose citizens are those whose interests have been injured. EU countries can also file complaints about the detention of their citizens at the airport. Usually because the plane landed. As I said, if we trust these actions, then universal jurisdiction means that any state has that opportunity ”, concluded the lawyer.
Belarusian authorities told a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius on Sunday that it was a potential threat to land in Minsk. However, it soon became clear that the plane had been forcibly landed to arrest Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich, founder of the Nexta news channel.
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