Criminal case against Lithuanian "International Neighborhood Forum" sent to court
The Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office has referred the case of the founders of the liquidated International Neighborhood Forum, Erika Švenčienienė and Kazimieras Juraitis, to Vilnius District Court for possible assistance to another state in actions against Lithuania, as well as for publicly approving, denying or grossly belittling international and Soviet crimes.
Together with them, the former leader of the Unity movement, 76-year-old Russian citizen Valery Ivanov, who lives in Lithuania, will be tried, the prosecutor's office said Monday.
Law enforcement agencies have launched a pre-trial investigation into the actions against Lithuania in August 2022
According to the prosecutor's investigation, Švenčienienienė, acting together with the defendant Ivanov, earlier this year participated in a program about the events of January 13, where she publicly denied and grossly belittled the fact of the 1991 aggression of the USSR against the Republic of Lithuania, recognized by legal acts and decisions of Lithuanian courts. Also during the TV program, the defendants denied very grave and serious crimes committed by the USSR against the population of Lithuania, and by such public statements insulted the memory of those who died and suffered in the struggle for the restoration of the independence of the Republic of Lithuania and their relatives.
The Criminal Code provides for imprisonment from two to seven years for assisting another State in actions against the Republic of Lithuania.
At a press conference held in Moscow in 2022, Švenčionienė and her colleagues expressed doubts about the legitimacy of the election of the current Lithuanian government, accused it of inflicting economic damage and intimidating its citizens because of a possible Russian invasion.
Forum participants also visited Belarus, where they met with its authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko. Lithuania and Western countries do not recognize him as the legally elected president of Belarus.
Švenčionienė and Juraitis deny their guilt on the charges.