According to publicly available information, a group of bikers gathered near the mosque while Muslims were performing Friday religious rites. There was noise, music was played, chants were made, and a pig’s head was also displayed. The Lithuanian Youth Center believes that these circumstances cannot be assessed solely as a possible public order violation.
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“When provocative actions take place right next to a place of worship and at the time when people are performing religious rites, we cannot limit ourselves to the question of whether a permit to gather was obtained. We must find out whether this was a deliberate attempt to disrupt the rites and humiliate members of a specific religious community,” says Martynas Norbutas, director of the Lithuanian Youth Center.
The Center emphasizes that the overall circumstances are especially important: the actions took place near Muslim places of worship, specifically during religious rites, and a symbol with a clear cultural and religious context in the Muslim faith was used. Therefore, the prosecution is asked to determine whether these actions were intended to deliberately disrupt the rites, humiliate believers, or incite hatred against them.
The Lithuanian Youth Center’s request to the General Prosecutor’s Office is based on Article 170 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania, which provides for liability for public mockery, contempt, incitement or promotion of hatred against a group of people, including on the grounds of their faith or beliefs.
“We hope that law enforcement will assess whether such actions exceeded the limits of freedom of expression and did not become an act against people’s right to freedom of religion. It is clear to us that people were intimidated in this way. However, only officers can collect information and take action to prevent such crimes in the future,” says Martynas Norbutas.
Article 171 of the Criminal Code provides for liability for disrupting religious rites or ceremonies with obscene words, brazen actions, threats, bullying, or other indecent acts. Therefore, the Lithuanian Youth Center asks to determine whether the gathering was pre-planned, whether its participants were aware of the Muslim prayers taking place at that time, who initiated and organized the gathering, who chose the place and time, and whether the noise and other actions were a premeditated part of the gathering.
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Special attention is paid to the display of the pig’s head. The letter requests to determine who brought it, who decided to display it, and for what purpose it was done. According to the Lithuanian Youth Center, this act should be assessed considering its possible symbolic meaning in the Muslim religious and cultural context.
The Lithuanian Youth Center draws attention to the fact that Article 26 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania enshrines freedom of thought, belief, and conscience, as well as the right to freely profess one’s religion and perform religious rites. Article 43 of the Constitution also guarantees the right of religious organizations to freely perform their rites.
According to the Center, these rights must be ensured even when religious rites take place in public spaces or near places of worship. The statement also notes that due to the limited capacity of the Kaunas mosque premises, some Muslims perform religious rites in the nearby park. Therefore, this circumstance, according to the Lithuanian Youth Center, should not become a reason for believers to be forced to perform rites under conditions where demonstrative provocation, noise, or acts degrading their religious beliefs are possible.
The Lithuanian Youth Center emphasizes that the appeal to the prosecution is not intended to pre-identify guilty persons. It requests a thorough, impartial, and comprehensive investigation and, if signs of a criminal offense are found, to apply the legal measures provided for in the Criminal Code.
According to the Center, the reaction of institutions to incidents of this nature is important not only for the specific Muslim community. It shows whether in Lithuania the human right to freedom of religion and human dignity are equally protected for followers of all religions.
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