For the first time ever in the post-soviet area, a person is threatened with 1 year in prison just for questionining one version of one historical event. The freedom of speech is at stake in Lithuania, a NATO and EU member state. Authorities in Lithuania are politically persecuting journalist, human rights and anti-fascist activist, chair
For the first time ever in the post-soviet area, a person is threatened with 1 year in prison just for questionining one version of one historical event. The freedom of speech is at stake in Lithuania, a NATO and EU member state. Authorities in Lithuania are politically persecuting journalist, human rights and anti-fascist activist, chair of Socialist People’s Front Algirdas Paleckis for his opinion.
The verdict of the court will be announced on 14th of December at 15:00 in Vilnius at the Vilnius First District Court (Laisves pr. 79, Vilnius).
A. Paleckis is risking 1 year of imprisonment for the – quote of the State Prosecutor – “denying the aggression of USSR in 1991.” The “crime” of A. Paleckis is that he dared to question the official version of events of 13th of January 1991 in Vilnius. 14 people were killed on that day, in a very unclear circumstances not officially investigated until now. Signs of provocations were obvious, as it was a time of regime change in Lithuania. A. Paleckis openly spoke about these provocations, basing his opinion on numerous publications and interviews with witnesses, also on the medical conclusions about the causes of deaths of victims. But the Lithuanian state, ruled by the nationalistic politicians, imposes on the society its own version of events. Its questioning is forbidden by the Lithuanian Penal Code, although the real perpetrators of the mentioned crime are still not identified.
A. Paleckis is a co-founder of international humand rights movement „World Without Nazism“ and a vice-chair of its Lithuanian chapter. He is one of very few in Lithuania who is constantly denouncing Government’s subservience to the neo-nazis who are allowed each year to march in the Lithuanian streets and proudly shout „Lithuania – for Lithuanians!“, „Juden raus!“. The Lithuanian court decided that swastika can be publicly demonstrated in Lithuania, and that the slogan „Lithuania – for Lithuanians!“ is „a democratic slogan“. All these neo-nazi tendencies are unofficially supported by the Government of Lithuania.
Stop banning freedom of speech in Lithuania!
Hands off Algirdas Paleckis!