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“There is a nonsense, an absurdity and it is obvious. Robertas Povilaitis has spent ten years forging, knocking on the blind door of Lithuanian “justice”. Now that door is starting to crack a bit and maybe it’s a breakthrough. I hope that this decision of the Court of Appeals is already a great step in the direction of true statehood, “he told reporters on Wednesday.
He spoke about this in an opinion that journalists asked him about a situation in which the Court of Appeals described the events of January as a military operation, but there was no head of the military operation in the dock.
The first de facto head of state emphasized that he did not know what procedures should be followed, however, the court mentions that the perpetrators of the January events carried out the will of the highest government, and who was the highest Soviet official in that moment. – is clear.
“If that person is not even invited to give testimony, it means that Lithuania has fallen into the bushes and is not completely worthy of respect and this is his victory (Russia – BNS) – what to say here with such Lithuania,” Landsbergis said . .
He also noted that prosecutors should bring broader charges to court and include more defendants.
“They should scratch their necks and think that if a prosecutor is a defender of the State, what kind of defender of the State are they. When you are not making claims in court that are broader than those previously filed. We are so twisted that the court cannot invite more defendants, ”said V. Landsbergis.
The former president of the Supreme Council also emphasized that by defending its judges from Russia’s persecution, Lithuania is also defending Europe.
“But something allows, too much allows. Both the European institutions and, ultimately, the United Nations, where Russia, which also does not comply with any statute, may have had to be eliminated a long time ago. He really had to be removed from Interpol a long time ago. Catching our judges through Interpol, what is the value of Interpol? Is Russia a puppy on a leash? “, I ask.
Landsberg also said that he believed that Russia would undoubtedly use the verdict of the January 13 case for its propaganda.
“It goes all the time, it goes all the time. It is expected to be influenced psychologically, morally, to maintain that connection of fear and, through fear, of subordination. We have to get rid of that,” he emphasized.
On Wednesday, the Lithuanian Court of Appeal convicted 67 convicts in one case on January 13. The court that heard the appeals changed the sentences of 16 convicts and the sentences were toughened for all but two.
All the people were convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
The only defendants in Lithuania, Yuri Melis and Gennady Ivanov, were sentenced by the court to higher sentences and sentenced to 10 and 5 years in prison, respectively.
Among those convicted in the first instance was the then Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but the former minister died last year and the Court of Appeal dismissed the case against him.
Vladimir Uschopchik, a former commander of the Vilnius garrison of the Soviet army, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, and a former KGB officer, Mikhail Golovatov, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Most of the defendants were sentenced in absentia because Russia and Belarus refused to extradite them.
In addition, the case satisfied almost 11 million. A civil lawsuit was filed against the State for compensation for property damage amounting to 125 thousand euros. Claims for moral damages against the son of Apolinaras Juozas Povilaitis, Robert and his wife Ona, who died in the events of January.
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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