Vilnius court resumes hearings on Lithuanian “International Neighborhood Forum” case

On September 8, after a three-month summer break, the Vilnius District Court held the eighth court hearing in case No. 1-01-1-35540-2023-7 of the International Neighborhood Forum (INF), defendant Valerij Ivanov told the Baltija portal.

Judge Mindaugas Povilanskas continued familiarizing the defendants and those present with the video materials of the case. For 30 minutes the video recording of the Congress of Patriotic Forces, organized on December 20, 2022 in Minsk by the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus, was broadcasted.

However, the video demonstration was interrupted due to the indisposition of the defendant E. Švenčiūnina, who referred to the fact that her family had been infected with the coronavirus established by doctors. She began to cough violently and continuously in the courtroom and asked for a break to take measures to stop it. After the 10-minute break announced by the judge, it was decided to postpone further hearings of the case to October 2, 2024.

Recall, the first court hearing on the new case on the activities of the NGO “International Forum for Neighborhoods” took place on January 24, 2024.

On February 26, 2024, the second court session was held in Vilnius District Court, where the hearing of 28 volumes of the case of “International Neighborhood Forum” began on the merits, in which Erika Švenčienienė, the chairperson of IFD, is charged under Article 118, paragraph 1, Article 170-2, paragraph 1, of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter - CC); Kazimieras Juraitis is charged under Article 118, paragraph 1 of the CC (wording of Law No. IX-1495 of April 10, 2003, in force until June 2, 2022); Russian citizen Valery Ivanov is charged under Article 170-2, paragraph 1 of the CC.