Lithuanian Public Commission Demands Investigation of all Parties involved in the violent abuse of children on 17th May 2012

Concerned about ensuring the protection of human rights in Lithuania, as well as ensuring the maintenance of constitutional order in the State of Lithuania, feeling our professional and civic duty to intervene, when in the background of the events of Garliava the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania addresses the question of whether our State institutions are capable of ensuring the protection of constitutional values, members of the Public Commission present these conclusions on the events in Garliava:The Commission having evaluated over 50 oral and written testimonies, as well as a wealth of video and audio material, states that that violence was used against the constitutional order of the Republic of Lithuania in implementing the decision of the Kedainiai District Court of the 16th of December, 2011.

The Kedainiai District Court ruling of the 22.03.2012 to handover the girl to her biological mother without the use of violence/force was implemented on the 17.05.2012 using violence and force not only against the girl, but also against her guardian Judge Neringą Venckiene who has immunity, as well as against citizens. This means that in implementing the court decision, on behalf of the State. using force, the following Articles 3, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 29, 33, 36 and 11 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania were violated. In addition, there were serious breaches of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Articles 12, 19 and 34 and its provisions supported by national legal acts (Republic of Lithuania Civil Code Article 3.164, Republic of Lithuania Civil Process Code Article 764 and so on).

The Commission has sufficient data to state that in implementing the court decision that the people’s right to free movement was unjustifiably violated, people were unduly harmed, their dignity humiliated, they were subjected to cruel treatment, people’s personal property rights were violated, public dissemination of misinformation took place, there was failure to comply with the provision that all persons are equal before officials, in addition, without the consent of the Parliament Judge Neringa Venckiene’s freedom was restricted, furthermore a clear disrespect of the Lithuanian flag was displayed.

The Commission drew attention to the fact that the use of such force and the violation of the Constitution in the State’s name were implemented in an organized manner, actions were prepared in advance and many government officials from various State and municipal authorities were included in these illegal acts. Furthermore, discussions took place in advance as to how to conceal the traces of violence; without a court sanction the video cameras installed in the house were turned away, people who could testify to the use of violence were removed from the premises; protective shields were prepared and so on. Taking all of this into account, the Commission is of the opinion, that every participant of this act of violence – from the organizers to the implementers – actions should be assessed from the point of view of the Criminal Code and Civil Code and other legislative acts. The Commission also ascertained that such an unlawful act of violence on behalf of the State is in part due to the decision of the Kedainiai District Court Judge Vitalijus Kondratjevo, which does not conform to the principles of justice and reasonableness; it was not waited for the most important in this entire story the outcomes of the pedophile case, it was failed to comply with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 12 requirements whereby it is essential to take into account the child’s opinion and wishes. The child cannot be quickly wrenched away from the environment in which she was born and grew, separated from her grandparents, relatives and close friends, as this is contrary to the principles of humanity.In the opinion of the Commission this sexual abuse against a young child case is further complicated by the fact that since 2007 the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania, for hard to understand reasons, delayed ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on “The Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.”

The Commission drew attention to the fact that up until now the independent Parliamentary Ombudsmen and the Children’s Rights Protection Ombudsman have not reacted to the gross violations of human rights in Garliava. It is not publicly known that the Parliamentary Ombudsman and Children’s Rights Ombudsman would have started their own investigations, as this year on the 17th of May in Garliava not only were a minor, a young girl, but also Neringa Venckienė’s son were the subject of psychological abuse. Also, in the three month period since the 23rd of March 2012 the violence against the young child, Judge Neringa Venckiene’s ward, has not been investigated regardless of the fact that the Republic of Lithuania Code of Criminal Procedure Article 2 obliges the prosecutor and the investigating agencies in the shortest time possible time to investigate and uncover a criminal offense.The Commission notes that it is not possible to objectively evaluate the question of Judge Neringa Venckiene’s immunity for the following reasons and circumstances: The illegal actions of officials and other persons cannot lead to legal consequences.Without examining the circumstances of the use of violence against a minor girl on the 23rd of March and 17th of May this year, the allegations against Judge N. Venckiene can be one-sided.

We cannot evaluate Judge N. Venckienė’s actions, without firstly evaluating the infringements on the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania Article 114 by the officers and the people who used violence against the girl “A judge cannot be prosecuted, arrested, his freedom cannot be in any other way restricted without the consent of the Parliament, in the event that it is between sessions without the consent of the President of the Republic” and taking into account the Republic of Lithuania Law on Courts, Article 47, paragraph 2 “It is prohibited to enter into the living space or office facilities of a Judge, to undertake there or in the personal or official work car of the Judge, or any other personal transport vehicle an inspection, search or seizure, furthermore to inspect or search the Judge personally or search, inspect or seize his/her belongings and documents, except for those cases prescribed by law.”On the 17th of May this year Judge’s N. Venckiene’s immunity was not repealed and was still effective regardless of her location. It is not possible to blame the child’s guardian N. Venckienė because the Kedainiai District Court decision was not implemented; the girl herself expressed a clear intention to remain with her guardian. Under these circumstances the guardian did not have a moral or a legal responsibility to handover the girl by force to the mother. We note that there are no facts to show that N. Venckienė abused her responsibilities as a guardian. We cannot blame Judge, N. Venckienė for her words of sincere criticism against the real evils of the judicial system. The Commission notes that the current persecution of Judge, N. Venckienė, not only causes material harm to her, but also oppresses her personality psychologically, damages the country’s legal system and demoralizes society. The Commission is surprised that up until now the Interim Commission of the Parliament has not been given all the (footage of the child being taken) data demonstrating Judge, N. Venckienė’s potential culpability. Is this not a way of covering up breaches of the constitutional order?The Commission finds that following the implementation of the Kedainiai District Court decision that the young child who is a witness and a victim in the criminal case, has been handed over to the biological mother, against whom, adhering to the set order, she gave evidence. The current total isolation of the girl after the forced handover to her biological mother creates all the conditions for the girl’s psychological oppression and the possibility to impact on her with the aim to potentially change her evidence.

Members of the Public Commission express hope that at this critical moment, when the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania addresses the question of revoking Judge Neringa Venckienė’s legal immunity and when it is very important to protect the Lithuanian legal system and constitutional order, that the members of the Lithuanian Parliament will be very careful in their evaluation and will not adopt legally unfounded irresponsible decisions. Chairman, Commission Dr. Saulius Arlauskas Professor Mykolas Romeris University Deputy Chairman, Commission Dr. Zita Šličytė Member of the group responsible for the development of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, Deputy of the Restoration Parliament, lawyer Commission members: Vytautas Budnikas Chairman, Lithuanian Human Rights Association Kęstutis Milkeraitis Former General Prosecutor’s Office Former General Prosecutor’s Office investigator of particularly important cases, former Ombudsmen for the Parliament Kazimieras Motieka Member of the group responsible for the development of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, signatory of the March 11th Act, former Vice President of the Restoration Parliament, solicitor Associate Professor Dr. Romualdas Povilaitis Chairman, Lithuanian Human Rights Protection Association Liudvikas Narcizas Rasimas Member of the group responsible for the development of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, signatory of the March 11th Act, solicitor

Neringa Venckiene

Kaunas District Court Judge

 

TO THE HONORABLE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA

Her Excellency Dalia Grybauskaite

S. Daukantas Sq. 3, LT-01122, Vilnius

 

Request to terminate from the judge’s position at Kaunas District Court

 

27 June 2012

 

At the moment Lithuania is going through a deep crisis, which is not only economical, but moral crisis too. The pedophilia case that shocked our society has uncovered the incomprehensibly deep problems in our political and judicial systems.  Many of us knew that such problems existed, but that they are so deep, we could not even imagine.

 

It’s quite obvious, that the essential reasons for the destruction of our life in this country lie in the incapable judicial system which is not there to protect a human being. This is a fact that the majority of Lithuanians see and that is also noted by foreign officials. During more than 20 years of country’s independence from the Soviet Union, the judicial system, instead of going in the direction of Western standards, has chosen the most dangerous way – corrupted deals, unclear relationships that very often enable to manipulate the existing laws, and on many occasions – ties with the criminal world, which in turn is fundamentally compromising  the principal constitutional and judicial rights to serve for the truth, establish justice, defend human rights and freedoms. The current situation is extremely dangerous for Lithuania, because it looks like the justice is of little importance and is not sought as fundamental category, but the law itself is brought above all, above the human being and the justice, and then that set of laws becomes an object of manipulations which leads to incomprehensible decisions that serves various clans. The Lithuanian courts and prosecutors’ office always stress their impeccable rightfulness though without any proofs to support that, and the society clearly sees how the processes are endlessly delayed, the cases are not investigated and even the court decisions are very questionable. The courts and the prosecutors’ office have become completely closed structures that are clearly not acting according the Constitution and laws, but they have created their own system for them. These institutions have completely closed themselves from constructive criticism and are consciously preventing the bettering of their performance, while protecting and hiding from public huge mistakes and often even the criminal actions of their employees. All this is a compromising the authority of the Lithuanian judicial system in the eyes of Lithuania and the world severely, which in turn causes distrust in this system and even in the country itself, because a healthy judicial system is the guarantee of a normal and harmonious life.

 

When we do not have honest and clean judicial system, we do not have a well-functioning country. Then the kids that were raped by pedophiles are returned to the rapists, the murderers are spending only two years in jail for stabbing someone, and the “politicians” that have sold out or stolen the wealth of our country are sitting in their chairs and smiling, because they are sure that tomorrow will be as rich and as luxurious as today. This present situation is a horrible deformation of our life, an absolute mockery from all the past sacrifices that have been required during our quest for freedom – and it is completely unacceptable not only for me, but also for a big part of Lithuanians.

 

I, Neringa Venckiene, have worked as a judge for more than ten years. During that period I have worked on a couple of thousands of cases, and, following the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, I have taken very important judicial decisions that concern the people of Lithuania. Because I have made an oath to be faithful to our country - I have carried out my duties honorably and I sought justice according the Constitution and the laws, defended human rights, freedoms and legitimate interests, I was always objective, honest, humane, and I have never taken bribes and did not participate in any unclear deals. I want to stress this firmly again, because as a judge and as a human I have my clear understanding of justice – I stick strictly to the notions of the Lithuanian Constitution, I serve for the justice, truth, people and our homeland. However, in my attempt to save my brother’s daughter who was raped by pedophiles, I have been constantly pushed into a corner by the very same system I work for and instead of help I received a massive oppression from the forces that should pay its duty to the truth, justice, our people and Lithuania. My colleagues in the judicial system, who also have given oath to serve the country, did not concern themselves with uncovering the most disgusting pedophilia case in Lithuania, which is what their duty is, not even mentioning the personal humane interest to save the suffering kids and help them, but they concentrated on creating various difficulties and barriers for me – I have been constantly checked at work, some of my colleagues have refused to work on me in some cases, the pedophilia case related court hearings have been spread out all over the country. Who will count how many hours I have spent driving from one city to another: one day going to Vilnius, the next one to Panevezys, Siauliai or Klaipeda? I am sure that it has been done intentionally, so that I could be destroyed physically and emotionally. And let’s not forget all supposedly legal, but completely insane decisions that are destroying the future of my brother’s little girl that have been taken consciously trying to divert attention from how problematic this story is and attempting to cover up its brutality and sharpness, while in the meantime trying to destroy me, to push me into despair and give up seeking justice in the name of this little girl. Is it not the fault of this system that my life in these last four years turned into God knows what? If not the early system’s errors, maybe even my brother would be alive today, instead of lying under ground after he “chocked on the contents of his stomach”. The conscious attempt to cover up and not to investigate, the attempt to push it to the past, make the society forget and even manipulate the information and present it as the “truth”, while leaving the real murderers freely walking amongst us – is an unforgivable crime. And it’s the crime of no other than the Lithuanian judicial system that shows an open disregard for the truth, and gives instead an open or hidden, but nevertheless – lie. I wonder – what for?

 

Most scary is the fact, that this conscious deformation of the truth is becoming acceptable on a big scale. It is obvious to the normal people, but until now it is “not obvious” to the highest Lithuanian judicial institutions – The Judges’ Council, The Honor of Judges’ Court, Lithuanian Highest Court. Neither the Prosecutor General, nor the Head of the Highesrt Court G. Kryzevicius, nor the Minister of Justice could see and hear the little child who shouted seven times “I will not go”, on whose head a blanket was thrown, who was taken away by force while screaming at the top of her lungs and was placed in a minivan full of masked men where she saw “eight hands”. They cannot see the force used against a judge, as well as the brutal force used against the peaceful people on a private property, moreover the torn apart symbol of our country – the Lithuanian flag. All they can see and hear are the “not nice” words of Venckiene, and when based only on those few words they could not remove me from judges, they started creating the supposed criminal acts I have done. Without a doubt, yet again, all this is compromising the system.

 

I have also received complaints from the parliament members that I was carrying out my own justice. However, all I can say is that in my life’s journey I always had the belief that what is according to the law cannot not be higher than justice, and that all judicial decisions should have a clear motivation and with their objectiveness should be completely understandable to people. This is how it is done in a civilized world, where any mistake is quickly corrected and it is apologized to the society for any doubts it might have caused. In a civilized world while deciding on the fate of somebody - a human being is held above everything else, and even more attention is given when it is a child. And there is no such law and no norm that can justify the use of force against the child; no law permits covering the child’s head with a blanket that most likely was sprayed with psychotropic drugs or taking a screaming child with twisted legs after 240 policemen kicked out of their away all the peaceful people. In all civilized world the child’s wish and decision are not ignored, which is clearly laid out in the Child Rights Protection Convention. Therefore, by not using any force against the girl, I did not do any crime, quite on the contrary – both as a human and as a judge I have protected the child’s right to a happy life. I was carrying the real justice that was not granted by the Lithuanian courts even though it was their duty. And I know very well, that those honest people in judicial system and in Lithuania in general understand me and my actions.

 

I have suffered immensely in this pursuit of the real justice. While being the judge of Kaunas District Court and having my immunity, I was forced to go through hell that has been consciously created by the Lithuanian judicial institutions – I was humiliated as a human and all my freedoms have been taken away when a brutal force was used against my brother’s daughter, who is also a victim in the pedophilia case, when she was torn away from my neck while throwing a red blanket on her head. Moreover, I also suffered abuse myself when the policemen were breaking my arms in their attempt to cause me unbearable pain and a traumatic shock.

 

I am convinced that in a normal, civilized world nobody behaves with judges like this. Nobody breaks their arms, nobody causes them a traumatic shock, nobody breaks their house windows, nobody cuts their doors and kicks around the things. They are not slandered in the most humiliating ways in media, they are not called “the political and judicial system’s fester” by the highest rank officials that are directly responsible for the justice, for the respect and security of a human in the country. This kind of judicial system that seeks not justice, but seeks destruction of the one who asks for it – this kind of system is dead by laws and moral values and even criminal, and we need to acknowledge it openly. I do not want to be part of this kind of system anymore. This is a system that consciously avoids Western standards where judges are respected and protected by their immunity for real. The heads of the Lithuanian justice system are consciously avoiding the system based on Western practices where a judge would be a guarantee not of a twisted lawfulness, but of justice and where he would be respected and trusted by the society for his honest work

 

I cannot be part of the system where the justice is declared in words, but not sought after and is not carried out; where corruption is one of the most important aspects and the top of the hierarchy is reached only with the help of unclean relationships and secret agreements, but not by one’s merit.

 

I cannot be a part of the system that does not pay its duty to the truth, the people and the home country.

 

The Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania has removed my immunity yesterday (26 June 2012). I, being a suspect, cannot be a judge anymore. Considering the circumstances and that I am honest in my work, I cannot continue working on cases.

By the Republic of Lithuania Courts’ Law No. 90 (Part 1, Point 1), I ask you to immediately terminate me from the employment of a judge at Kaunas District Court starting from the 2nd July 2012.

 

Respectfully,

 

 

Neringa Venckiene

Parliament Removed Neringa Venckiene's Immunity: Without Evidence

Today, the Lithuanian parliament on the recommendation of a special purpose committee voted to remove judge Neringa Venckiene's immunity so that she can be prosecuted for fake charges. The goal is to put her in jail and remove her from the political stage, to break the hope of Lithuanian people that the country can be saved from abuse and corruption and that criminals can be brought to justice. 

This is how they voted of parliament voted:

FOR (73): Adomenas Mantas, Aleknaite Abramikiene Vilija, Anusauskas Arvydas, Andriukaitis Vytenis, Povilas Austrevicius Petras, Azubalis Audronius, Babilius Vincas, Bacevicius Vaidotas, Baltraitiene Virginija, Bastys Mindaugas, Bekintiene Danute, Bogusis Vytautas, Bradauskas Bronius, Bucevicius Saulius, Budrys Dainius, Butkevicius Algirdas, Caplikas Algis, Cigriejiene Vida Marija, Dauksys Kestutis, Dautartas Julius, Degutiene Irena, Dinius Laimontas, Endzinas Audrius, Giedraitis Stanislovas, Glaveckas Kestutis, Jagminas Jonas, Jankauskas Donatas, Jonyla Edmundas, Jukneviciene Rasa, Juozapaitis Jonas, Jurkevicius Evaldas, Jursenas Ceslovas, Kaseta Algis, Kubilius Andrius, Kuodyte Dalia, Lydeka Arminas, Liesys Jonas, Masiulis Eligijus, Masiulis Kestutis, Matulas Antanas, Nedzinskas Antanas, Olekas Juozas, Pauza Bronius, Pavilioniene Marija Ausrine, Peceliunas Saulius, Petrauskiene Milda, Pupinis Edmundas, Ramelis Konstantas, Razma Jurgis, Rutkelyte Ruta, Sabatauskas Julius, Salamakinas Algimantas, Sinkevicius Rimantas, Sysas Algirdas, Stankevicius Ceslovas Vytautas, Starkevicius Kazys, Steponavicius Gintaras, Stirblyte Arune, Stundys Valentinas, Sedbaras Stasys, Siauliene Irena, Sukys Raimondas, Tamasauskas Erikas, Teiserskyte Dalia, Valinskas Arunas, Valinskiene Ingrida, Varaska Mantas, Vareikis Egidijus, Veselka Julius, Vidziunas Arvydas, Zingeris Emanuelis, Zeimys Pranas, Zilinskas Rokas

AGAINST (20): Baukute Asta, Kernagis Ligitas, Kondrotas Jonas, Kupcinskas Rytas, Luomanas Petras, Margeviciene Vince Vaidevute, Puteikis Naglis, Ramanauskaite-Skokauskiene Auksute, Ramonas Jonas, Sacharuk Aleksandr, Saudargas Paulius, Smetona Rimantas, Songaila Gintaras, Stancikiene Aurelija, Stanevicius Jonas, Stoma Saulius, Simenas Jonas, Uoka Kazimieras, Uzlyte Zita, Zasciurinskas Mecislovas.

ABSTAINED (9): Baskiene Rima, Bilotaite Agne, Bukauskas Valentinas, Kazulenas Algis, Kuzminskas Kazimieras, Mitrulevičius Albinas, Silgalis Zilvinas, Valkiunas Valdemaras, Zuokiene Agne.

Lithuanian Members of Parliament: VOTE NO !

You all know that if you vote to remove the immunity of Neringa Venckiene you will help putting an innocent person in jail. And you will help the criminals walk free. The Lithuanian people are looking at you, and you will not get away with this.

We will publish the names of each and everyone who has been involved in putting innocent Neringa Venckiene in jail and will begin to gather information on each of these people. Since you are a public person, you must accept that all your actions will be brought into the open for everyone to see.

From tomorrow we will turn our focus on you and how you act.

We will also analyse the actions of those, who help Neringa Venckiene and fight for justice.

We will also look at those "party friends" of hers and how they behave.

Committe will vote FOR removing Neringa's Immunity

(Translation of “Laisvas Laikrastis” article; the original and pictures can be found here http://www.laisvaslaikrastis.lt/news/881/53/d,detalus/)

The Parliament Committee will vote FOR the removal of Neringa Venckiene immunity

Tomorrow there will be another session of the Parliament Committee regarding N. Venckiene’s immunity removal question, and Laisvas Laikrastis sources say that it has been already decided to vote “FOR” removal. The Committee received a formal reply from the Prosecutor General that they WILL NOT show the videos of how the girl was taken on 17th May, justifying it with something that became almost like a curse – “it’s the pretrial investigation material”. 

The Committee members that will vote FOR the immunity removal will be: Jurkevicius, Stirblyte, Sedbaras, Sabatauskas, Juozapaitis, Rucys and Kuodyte (note: 7 out of 12). Therefore the Committee will offer a resolution to all the Parliament members to remove N. Venckiene immunity WITHOUT any supporting material, even though it was formally requested by all members of the Committee. 

In the meantime, new details are coming to the surface:  it is very likely that psychotropic drugs might have been used against D. Kedys daughter - in the pictures one can see how the “child rights specialists” are carrying a red bag to N. Venckienes house in which there is a blanket, and that same blanket has been thrown on girl’s head, she became dizzy and could not fight back. 

By committee voting, with the majority of votes, the following requests for a PROPER investigation have been DENIED: invite the prosecutor general, semiotics experts, the policeman (sambo wrestling world competition 2nd place winner, who was twisting Neringa’s arms), the police general, doctor Bloznelyte, check the Lithuanian National TV reports from the archive for the comparison if the prosecutors used the whole text and the context with their accusations for insulting the honor of judges. The Committee member Naglis Puteikis said that it is obvious that the Committee is avoiding facts and proofs at all costs and the members that are constantly doing that are: Jurkevicius (head of the Committee), Stirblyte, Sedbaras, Sabatauskas, Juozapaitis ir Kuodyte. He continued saying that when there is an even number of votes - the decisive vote is that of Jurkevicius, who ALWAYS votes AGAINST the clarity and AGAINST the requests for the Committee to get as much information as possible. 

In the last Committee meeting J. Sabatauskas was asking Neringa Venckiene, what legal acts did she violate which provoked a conflict with the Head of the Highest Court, G. Kryzevicius. Neringa answered:  “since you have not asked EVEN ONE questions that relates to the supposed crimes I have done - it is clear that you already think that I am guilty. We gathered here not to talk about G. Kryzdevicius or his behavior and actions. In regards to him, I can only say that after the investigations are finished, the cases will go to court which are at the moment under his supervision. I want to ask Mr. Sabatauskas – don’t you have any questions related to the 5 things I am accused off, that are written in D. Valys (the prosecutor general) document? Because you have not asked even one question that relates to what we have gathered here for.”

In last Committee meeting Neringa said: “when the bailiff Vaicekauskiene and two child rights representatives came in, there were also around 30 policemen in the room. The bailiff introduced herself and ordered to everyone to be removed from the room except for the girl and me. I want to stress that NO ONE from the relatives that were in the room was doing anything, but still, both of my parents were dragged out of their own house. Then I said, that according to the court decision – force against the girl is not allowed. After that I saw that all the video cameras in our house have been turned off,  the table in front of me has been removed and that Stankunaite with her lawyer Cerniauskas are coming in. Stankunaite grabbed the girl and at the same time that blanket was thrown on the girls head. I hugged the girl, then they twisted my arms and by force took her away.”

The Committee member Dalia Kuodyte has asked why N. Venckiene thinks that the members voting regarding her immunity are also deciding on their fate, N. Venckiene replied: “I am almost certain that you will not be in the Parliament after the elections in autumn, because you have disappointed your voters, and I also see that same as Sabatauskas, you do not have even one questions related to what I am accused of. I am accused of 5 criminal acts, one supposedly done on November 14, 2010 and the rest related to the court decision regarding the returning of the girl. However, when they were brutally taking the girl, they made videos that are the best sources and proofs, WHO was making CRIMINAL ACTS. You just needed to see them and all would have been clear.”