E. Švenčionienė is accused of denying USSR crimes, and former leader of the Soviet organization “Jedinstvo” V. Ivanovas is also charged. E. Švenčionienė and K. Juraitis are charged with aiding another state in acting against Lithuania.
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E. Švenčionienė requested to postpone this session due to her health, but the court responded that it would not postpone the session and allowed the accused to participate remotely.
Before the session began, E. Švenčionienė remotely spoke about friendship with Belarus, “vatniks” and “runkeliai,” recited a poem about Vytautas Landsbergis, and claimed that the September 11 terrorist act in the USA was orchestrated by the American government.
“This is a crime against the statehood and sovereignty of Lithuania,” said prosecutor R. Savickas in his closing speech about the aiding another state in acting against Lithuania charges against E. Švenčionienė and K. Juraitis.
In his closing speech, the prosecutor said these defendants acted in the interests of Russia and Belarus. The defendants repeatedly spread false, defamatory information about Lithuania and Ukraine on Russian and Belarusian propaganda shows. E. Švenčionienė sought individuals willing to fight on Russia’s side in Ukraine. The defendants’ connections with Belarusian government institutions and the KGB are confirmed by data from the State Security Department in the case.
According to R. Savickas, the defendants assisted in Russia’s information war against Lithuania. E. Švenčionienė wished Russians to quickly defeat Ukraine and cleanse it of Nazis on Russian television propaganda shows, claimed that Lithuania intended to attack Russia, and stated, “your victory is our victory.”
The prosecutor listed public statements by V. Ivanovas and E. Švenčionienė denying Soviet crimes during the January 1991 events in his closing speech.
The prosecutor’s closing speech lasted more than an hour.
After the session, V. Ivanovas told journalists that he does not have money for the proposed fine.
“I am a pensioner, where would I get such money? Maybe they won’t expel me until I pay…” said V. Ivanovas.
This case has been under court review for almost three years. The process was prolonged due to E. Švenčionienė’s constant illnesses and endless requests from the defendants, which the court must consider. In every session, requests to disqualify the prosecutor or judge had to be reconsidered.
“We received the case on December 8, 2023. All sessions were organized following procedural regulations so that the break between sessions would not exceed one month. The schedule was intense – every two weeks, every month. The process began to stall due to the accused Erika Švenčionienė’s illnesses. At one point, the break lasted almost half a year,” Judge Mindaugas Povilanskas told BNS earlier.
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As BNS reported earlier, during the court review of this case, the defendants claimed that there was no Lithuanian occupation, that people were not killed by Soviet soldiers on January 13, and that Loreta Asanavičiūtė’s tank did not run over anyone.
In court, E. Švenčionienė said that together with Povilas Masilionis and V. Ivanovas, she initiated a “show” about January 13. She claimed she committed no crime, only asked questions that concerned her.
According to the case data, the show claimed that in January 1991, people were not killed by Soviet soldiers.
The General Prosecutor’s Office announced that data collected during the pre-trial investigation reasonably indicate that members of the “International Good Neighbor Forum,” established and later liquidated by Algirdas Paleckis, who was convicted of spying for Russia, E. Švenčionienė and K. Juraitis, acting as a group of accomplices, repeatedly helped Russia and Belarus and their organizations act against Lithuania in 2022 in Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia.
The Criminal Code provides for imprisonment from two to seven years for aiding another state in acting against Lithuania. K. Juraitis is proposed to be sentenced to one and a half years of imprisonment because the previous version of the Criminal Code article applied during the crimes he is charged with did not have a minimum penalty.
Denial or gross belittlement of USSR crimes is punishable by community service, a fine, restriction of liberty, arrest, or imprisonment for up to two years.
Last June, E. Švenčionienė was convicted in another case – for publicly denying USSR crimes, the Vilnius District Court sentenced her to one and a half years of restriction of liberty.
K. Juraitis has been convicted twice so far, V. Ivanovas four times.
Russian citizen V. Ivanovas had his residence permit in Lithuania revoked in 2023. Upon announcement and enforcement of the guilty verdict, he will have to leave Lithuania.
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