A Russian citizen, retired Colonel Yuri Mel has been released from prison in Lithuania. This was stated by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova.
Yury Mel spent nine years behind bars in a political case of rioting at the Vilnius TV tower on January 13, 1991. During this time, Russian diplomats visited the prisoner and the embassy provided support for improving the conditions of detention, providing medicines and providing medical assistance.
“Repeated calls for the abolition of the penalty, or at least its mitigation, have been cynically rejected. Blinded by the thirst for political revenge, the Lithuanian authorities and judges neglected basic human standards, without even considering the humanitarian factor – poor health of a Russian citizen,” Zakharova noted.
Today, March 10, Russian diplomats escorted the freed man to the border.
At the end of last year, American basketball player Brittney Griner was released in exchange for Russian Viktor Bout.
