VILNIUS, Lithuania – Austria’s decision to not to extradite a former KGB officer wanted in connection with a deadly demonstration two decades ago has sparked outrage in Lithuania, where diplomats issued a note of protest Monday and recalled their ambassador in Vienna.
Lithuanians are angered by an Austrian court’s decision on Saturday to refuse to extradite Mikhail Golovatov, a Russian citizen and former commander of an elite Alfa paratrooper squad that took part in a 1991 crackdown on a demonstration in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital.
Fourteen people died and more than a thousand were wounded in the subsequent clash.
Lithuanian prosecutors had requested European arrest warrants for Golovatov and other suspects as part of a lengthy investigation into the incident, which occurred not long after Lithuania declared independence from the Soviet Union.
“The people of Lithuania and relatives of the victims … are waiting for a convincing explanation from Austria why the decision was taken and why it was taken so hastily,” Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis said.
In Brussels, Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger met with Azubalis to discuss the issue.
Get daily National news
“(Azubalis) told me that this is an old wound for Lithuania,” Spindelegger was quoted by the Austria Press Agency as saying. “I understand this … but even in the case of old wounds, there is no getting around the fact that there are principles in a (legal) process that have to be adhered to.”
Spindelegger said Austrian officials asked Lithuanian authorities for proof of Golovatov’s culpability but that the results were unsatisfactory.
“This has to be proven. Two deadlines were set to prove this, but the results were not concrete as far as the events involving the person are concerned,” Spindelegger said.
In Vilnius, deputy Foreign Minister Asta Skaisgiryte-Liauskiene, while handing the note of protest to Austrian diplomat Josef Sigmund, stressed that the arrest warrant was issued by European Union judicial authorities and that obliges another EU member state to arrest and extradite the suspect.
“The people of Lithuania … are shocked,” Azubailis said. “We paid a very big price for independence 20 years ago. Lithuania has no choice but to mobilize all possible diplomatic and legal means to clarify the circumstances of the incident in order to be sure that this will never happen again in the European Union.”
Lithuania’s parliamentary committee on foreign affairs met Monday to discuss an appropriate response. A motion by chairman Emanuelis Zingeris to cut diplomatic ties with Austria was voted down.
Meanwhile, a crowd of about 60 protesters assembled outside the Austrian Embassy in Vilnius, shouting “Shame on Austria!”
“It is very wrong to set free a murderer who killed our people and wanted to choke our freedom,” said protester Elena Atkociuniene, who witnessed the 1991 crackdown.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.