Aidelis, considered the leader of the Pravieniškės mafia for freedom, offers an incredibly large deposit

Another defendant in the Pravieniškės mafia case, Erlandas Palukaitis from Kaunas, who has been arrested three times, also wants to breathe the air of freedom. EUR.

The Vilnius Regional Court judges hearing the Pravieniškės mafia criminal case have not yet decided whether Kaunas residents accused of serious crimes should be mitigated, while the Attorney General of the General Prosecutor’s Office, Gintaras Plioplys, who supported the state prosecution at that time, believes that the prison should not open its doors.

A. Kupčiūnas, who is considered to be the leader of the Pravienišk réadys mafia, has already been released. In November last year, the judges hearing the criminal case released the accused, who had been detained for four years. Forcing A. Kupčiūnas to wear an electronic monitoring device and not leave home, if it is not related to participation in court hearings and if it is not related to going to medical institutions. In addition, an identity card was taken from A. Kupčiūnas and the court awarded the defendants 50 thousand. a guarantee of EUR. Relatives paid this amount for A. Kupčiūnas.

But these preventive measures were ordered by the court on March 8. in pre-trial detention, noting that A. Kupčiūnas had seriously violated the conditions of intensive care, and also indicated that there was a real risk that the accused “could and possibly plans to flee (hide) from the court”.

It turned out that A. Kupčiūnas, although he was prohibited from leaving his home, went to the Migration Department and asked him to urgently present not only an identity card, but also a passport, which is required when traveling only to third countries (outside of the European Union).

Simonas Slapšinskas, a lawyer defending A. Kupčiūnas, said that his defendant did not even think about hiding.

“There was a spontaneous mistake,” said the lawyer.

According to him, A. Kupčiūnas, who was released, did not have personal documents, but fell ill and could not be provided with medical services in a medical institution without identity documents, so he went to the Migration Department to present them.

“The man panicked”, according to S. Slapšinskas, later it was confirmed that A. Kupčiūnas was really ill and he visited medical institutions.

The lawyer for the freedom of A. Kupčiūnas offered 60 thousand. Deposit in euros – that this amount was collected by family and friends: “They can pay this amount and justify the origin of the money.”

At that time, A. Kupčiūnas himself apologized to the court for the unconditional trust, when he was released and violated the conditions of the preventive measure: “I want to apologize for having produced documents.”

The defendant explained that the documents were required by the medical institution.

“I was wrong, I did not intend to run or hide, I was very scared,” Aidel explained in court. “I went to the passport office, asked if I could do documents, they told me I could and I offered to make a passport, because it had already expired,” I agreed, although I didn’t even need it. “

Previously, the court had noted that, when requesting the Migration Department to issue new documents, A. Kupčiūnas had provided false information that the identity card that belonged to him had been lost, although it was in fact protected in the Pravienišk Mas Mafia case. . A. Kupčiūnas had an excuse for that: it was said that during a meeting the lost card was mentioned, so he supposedly thought that the document that belonged to him had disappeared.

“Now I know I’m going,” he explained.

At that time, E. Palukaitis indicated that he had already served a custodial sentence that was previously imposed on him in another criminal case, but that he had not been released: he had been detained for almost three months. And the conditions of detention of the detainees, according to him, are much worse: limited appointments, etc.

“If they released me and stayed home, how could I commit new crimes?” He asked. And he added that his loved ones had raised as much money as possible for the deposit.

And Edgaras Dereškevičius, a lawyer defending E. Palukaitis, noted that his defendant “does everything possible” to ensure that the court does not violate the conditions of the more lenient pre-trial measures, as the guarantee already paid to the account court deposit would be lost.

According to the defense lawyer, the judges of the Strasbourg court have clarified that the gravity of the charges cannot in itself justify longer periods of detention and, if necessary, a security deposit.

The court has also released other defendants, Artūras Račkelis and Andrius Obelieniai, who were also assigned to a group operating in Pravieniškės. They also received intensive care, in addition, A. Račkelis and A. Obelienius have paid 30 thousand. Deposits in euros.

The defendants were released because the main witnesses and victims have already been questioned in the case, as well as state-protected and anonymous witnesses who testify about possible crimes at the Pravieniškės Penitentiary Center.

The Pravieniškės Mafia case is already being examined in court by a second panel of judges: after several dozen witnesses and victims were questioned, two judges were transferred to the Lithuanian Court of Appeal.

Fifteen current and former prisoners and Evaldas Baronėnas, an official of the Criminal Intelligence Division working in Pravieniškės, were prosecuted for crimes committed in Pravieniškės. None of them admit the complaints made.

During the pre-trial investigation, it was established that E. Baronėnas, a criminal intelligence specialist who was obliged to supervise the convicted, went together with the “guests of the chamber”, not only provided them with secret information, but also allowed them dealing in drugs. , but also provided them. And better than the prisoners, he is suspected of controlling the lives of other prisoners for six years: deciding who should be “bachuru”, who should be “duk” or “rooster”, dealing in drugs, alcohol, telephones and various prohibited items.

The inmates of Pravieniškės were not only beaten with specially made metal bars, which they kept in their beds throughout the day, but also with electrical cables. However, they all seemed to agree silently: they were afraid of being crippled or even killed. Because there have already been cases of this type.

All of these unwritten laws in the area were well known to the employees of the Pravieniškės Correctional Center, who were supposed to supervise and help convicts recover, but they were usually closed before crimes committed in prison.

In this case, several convicts were acquitted because they agreed to cooperate with law enforcement during the pre-trial investigation and discovered a series of crimes committed in the area. There are also several classified witnesses in the case, and most inmates at the prison avoid contact with officials for fear of retaliation. In addition, according to the unwritten rules of the area, royal “bachurs” are not allowed to communicate with law enforcement, nor are they prohibited from answering questions from officials. And many of those who were sent to serve their sentences by the court wanted to become “bachuras” in correctional facilities.

According to data collected during the pre-trial investigation, some inmates even agreed to pay taxes just to live with those who run the correctional facility. However, those convicts were immediately caught: if you had already agreed to pay, you would never be a “bachur”, even if someone from the criminal world in general interceded for you. True “bachurs” never pay, and when they do pay, they can become “dukes” or “roosters” at any time.

In the case of the Pravieniškės Mafia Association, the court explains not only how prisoners were terrorized and trafficked in drugs, but also how a prisoner was killed. He sympathized in 2015. Deimantas Bugavičius, a member of the “Agurkiniai” group, was shot in Kaunas, who with his friend was unofficially leading the group of prisoners at the time. D. Bugavičius in 2012. He suffered a real humiliation when he lost the position of leader: A. Kupčiūnas, a convict of a much lower level in the criminal world, took power from him.

In the eyes of other prisoners, D. Bugavičius, humiliated for a long time, resounded the plan of revenge; Although he had lost his authority, a member of the Agurkiniai group managed to unite the prisoners who supported him, who soon fought back and dealt with A. Kupčiūnas, who became a “guest of the chamber”.

Participants in a criminal organization can face up to fifteen years in prison for the crimes charged and life imprisonment for the organizers and leaders of the association.

About the events in Pravieniškės Delphi Special correspondent Dainius Sinkevičius has published the book Pravieniškės Mafia. The author’s new book “Police Gods” has also appeared in bookstores, exploring the links between the criminal world and law enforcement officers. The exceptional history of the police officers is almost 400 pages in the book “Police Gods”, which is already available in bookstores, as well as online at the publishing house “Baltos lankos”, the largest online bookstore raamat.lt and other distribution points.