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The court, which had the capacity for a hearing of four hundred people, was chosen by the court for the recommendations of health professionals regarding the prevention of the spread of the coronavirus infection.
The case was due to open in March, but due to quarantine requirements, the search for hundreds of victims, convicts, their attorneys, members of the public and the media who could safely accommodate the facility was delayed. Today, process participants and observers were invited to the MRU hearing.
An audience of four hundred was chosen in order to safely accommodate the hundreds of victims, convicts and their attorneys involved in the case. Representatives of the media and the public had the opportunity to observe the meeting in a separate room in the same building.
A total of 61 appeals have been received in the appeal case, and the decision of the Court of First Instance is being contested by the convicted persons and their lawyers, prosecutors, victims and civil plaintiffs. Currently, the case is scheduled for 20 hearings before December 15.
A reserve judge was needed
Just before the first hearing of the case, one of the judges who had to hear the case, Justas Namavičius, fell ill and was replaced by Egidija Tamošiūnienė, a reserve member of the panel.
“As always, there were obstacles in this case and Judge Namavičius fell ill,” said Ernestas Rimšelis, chair of the panel, at the beginning of the session.
According to him, at the moment it is not known how long the treatment of J. Namavičius will last, so E. Tamošiūnienė will replace him in all the next meetings. Following this change, E.Rimšelis, E.Tamošiūnienė and Ernesta Montvidienė are examining the case.
“In the case, the appeals were filed by 59 of 67 convicted persons, as well as by the Povilaičiai victims and the prosecutors,” Judge E. Rimšelis said.
He asks for an increase in the sentence imposed on Mel
Yuri Melis, a Russian national, who was convicted of crimes against humanity and war crimes last year by the Vilnius Regional Court, will participate in the hearing on Tuesday. In 2014, a man serving a seven-year prison sentence was arrested in Lithuania.
During the trial, he admitted that in January 1991 he was in one of the tanks that attacked the Vilnius television tower. According to him, in accordance with the order of the regiment commander, three empty shots were fired from the tank.
Prosecutors are asking the appeals court to increase Mel’s sentence to three years and sentence him to a total sentence of ten years in prison.
On appeal, the prosecutors also ask for the reconversion and the determination that the convicts acted in an organized group and not in a group of accomplices. In your opinion, this should be viewed as an aggravating circumstance.
On this basis, the majority of convicts are asked to face more severe custodial sentences.
Criticisms of the original judicial verdict
Prosecutors allege that the Vilnius Regional Court did not adequately describe the characteristics of the case: several episodes indicated that the crimes were committed during an assault, an armed conflict or a war attack. It is also unclear what hostile policy the convicts followed and what the policy was in general.
The court is also being asked to convict more than 11 million. damage to property jointly and severally of all convicts. This damage occurred during the treatment of victims, the installation of memorials, and the management of damaged infrastructure.
“The damage is caused by the intentional actions of the convicted, therefore, it is they who have to compensate the damage, not the Russian Federation,” noted E. Rimšelis the prosecutors’ argument.
Photo by Lukas April / 15 minutes / Examination of the case of January 13 in the MRU auditorium
The next of kin of Apolinaras Juozas Povilaitis, his wife Ona and their son Robertas, who died in the events of January, also claim moral damages to those convicted on appeal. They ask the court, respectively, 150 thousand. and 120 thousand. euros.
They noted that non-pecuniary damage had been awarded to the relatives of the Lithuanian officials killed at the Medininkai border post in 1995, noting that the damage claimed was much less than what they had actually suffered because they were simply seeking social justice.
Convicts question both facts and legal arguments
“In most complaints certain aspects are repeated, so the court will summarize the arguments that we will examine in this court,” said E. Rimšelis, president of the case, about the complaints of the convicted.
The judge said that the lawyers of almost all the convicted persons are asking for the acquittal of their defendants and the exoneration of part of them from responsibility for the expiration of the statute of limitations. Advocates for J. Melis, who is participating in the process, are also requesting an exemption from the penalty due to the statute of limitations.
The defendants who represent the convicted also dispute the facts of the case, arguing participation in events in general, pointing out that only part of the events occurred but not harming civilians, or pointing out circumstances that should exclude responsibility, explaining that the soldiers used violence physical only in defense.
We even look at the Constitutional Court
The legal aspects of the sentence are also questioned, and the lawyers argue that the highest military officers who gave orders, such as the then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, should be tried, not ordinary officers.
According to those convicted, a military group cannot be considered a criminal group and attacking strategic objects cannot be considered a war crime.
According to those convicted, a military group cannot be considered a criminal group and attacking strategic objects cannot be considered a war crime.
Those convicted who have been sentenced to prison allege that the court of first instance applied double standards, the investigation was carried out in a biased manner and the judge was biased.
The court also received three requests to submit an application to the Constitutional Court, to include in the file extracts from the book “Fateful Year” of the Lithuanian Prime Minister of the Interior, Marijonas Misiukonis, and to question him and his signatory Zigmas Vaišvilas. Among other things, the court is asked to re-examine the evidence in the case.
Jazov died before the verdict went into effect
At the end of March last year, the Vilnius Regional Chamber of Judges sentenced a total of 67 citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to between four and 14 years in prison for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Among those convicted is 94-year-old former Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the court in absentia. He died in February of this year.
Vladimir Uschopchik, a former commander of the Vilnius garrison of the Soviet army, was also sentenced to 14 years in prison and Mikhail Golovatov, a former KGB officer, to 12 years in prison.
Most of the accused were convicted in absentia.
Most of the defendants were sentenced in absentia because Russia and Belarus refused to extradite them.
One of the few defendants who participated in the trial, the Russian citizen J. Melis, was sentenced by the court to seven years in prison.
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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