Цитаты
Спасение человечества заключено в сердце человека, в способности человека к самопознанию, в человеческой кротости и в человеческой ответственности. Вацлав Гавел |
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Statement in connection with acquittal on A. Paleckis
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 On January 18, 2012 Vilnius district court acquitted the leader of Socialist front of Lithuania Algirdas Paleckis who was accused of “denial of Soviet occupation”.
It should be reminded that in February 2011 Paleckis said in the interview devoted to events near Vilnius TV tower on January 13, 1991 as a result of which 13 civilians and one “Alpha” detachment officer perished: “As is under clarification now friends shot at the friends”. The office of public prosecutor demanded to pass a suspended sentence of 1-year imprisonment on Paleckis with 2-year postponement of punishment in correspondence with clause 170.2 of the Criminal code of Lithuanian Republic “Public approval of international crimes and crimes committed by the USSR or Nazi Germany against Lithuanian Republic or its residents, their denial or gross impairment” that says among other things: “The person who … approves grave and very grave crimes committed in 1990-1991 by persons who executed the aggression or participated in its execution, who denies or grossly underestimates them, if this is done in a threatening or abusive form, or peace was breached due to this, is punished with a fine or restraint of freedom, or arrest, or imprisonment up to 2 years”.
A. Paleckis asserted basing upon numerous evidences that during events of January 13 the provokers acted who shot from the roofs from sporting guns and the dead were right their victims but not those of Russian special mission unit soldiers. As a result, Lithuanian office of public prosecutor found it necessary to apply an article about denial of “Soviet” aggression to him despite a whole number of witnesses confirmed A. Paleckis’s words in the court.
Various political forces waited for the court decision intently, and it was no coincidence that the cameras were removed from the hall before start of reading of the sentence. As a result, the court found Paleckis not guilty due to lack of corpus delicti. It took the absence of malicious intent into account and also noted that complete Paleckis’s phrase contained the words “it is under clarification” (this corresponds to reality as the case about events on January 13 is still on the stage of pre-trial investigation). The court came to conclusion that Paleckis was not going to deny the fact of aggression but cited the words of other people.
Director of Moscow bureau for human rights Alexander Brod: “The court decision, as a matter of fact, can’t be but greeted: MBHR already paid attention to lack of clarification of events of 1991, and accusatory decision of the court would be obviously of political character. On the other hand, it is necessary to note that the court formulations are of very cautious and actually still politicized character: Paleckis was acquitted not due to lack of clarification of the case itself but after resorting to formal juridical pretexts”.
Naturally A. Paleckis is satisfied with the court decision and speaks about “freedom of speech in Lithuania”. But while he only disclaimed the official version of office of public prosecution about death of people before, now he suddenly starts to tell willingly in the interview that he did not ever deny the fact of the “Soviet” aggression (that actually took place) except maybe in cautious formulation: “it is not clever to introduce the tanks into the city, especially to the places of big concentration of civilians. Even having the goal to seize the TV tower, it could be done in a different way”. Moreover, Paleckis began demanding to issue an international arrest warrant concerning ex-president of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev who is accused by several persons of giving an order to storm the TV center. Certainly it may well be so that Gorbachev could give such order but again, due to lack of clarification of the problem, the suggestion to arrest him is absurd (though Paleckis makes a reservation that “Mikhail Sergeyevich had to testify in the court at the minimum”).
Anyway, the state prosecutor, public prosecutor of Vilnius office of public prosecutor Egidijus Shleinius thinks that we would appeal – though he stated this somewhat irresolutely: “I read and familiarized well with the decision, it seems it should be appealed against. (…) I think it will be appealed against”. There remains to wait for further development of events.
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