Three Russian propagandists could be prosecuted in Lithuania

The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania has decided to investigate Kremlin propagandists Vladimir Solovyov, Olga Skabeeva and Anton Krasovsky with the possibility of bringing them to justice for incitement to war crimes and crimes against humanity, which fall under universal jurisdiction.

The reason for this was the appeal of the Chairman of the Seimas of Lithuania Committee on National Defense and Security, Laurynas Kasciunas, to the country’s Attorney General, Nida GrunskienÄ—.

On his Facebook page, the Lithuanian parliamentarian notably noted that his statement “indicates that these propagandists of the Russian state systematically, methodically and constantly publicly call on the leaders of the army of the Russian Federation, the soldiers and the fighters of the groups paramilitaries to treat people and kill people protected by international law in Ukraine. In addition, it is noted that V. Solovyov incites the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity against other European states and peoples, including Lithuania, Poland and Germany.

The correspondent of the Russian service American media addressed the Lithuanian experts to ask them to comment on the statement of the parliamentarian and the decision of the office of the Lithuanian prosecutor general.

Vytautas Bruveris, editor-in-chief of the Lithuanian news agency ELTA, believes that the Lithuanian public prosecutor’s office is thus signaling to Western allies that such cases must also be dealt with.

“Russian propaganda is a serious weapon, because it is also a weapon for the crimes of the Russian regime. And not only the representatives of the Russian regime who commit or organize bloody crimes, but those who incite (to commit them) should be prosecuted by international institutions and punished,” he explained in an interview with a correspondent of the service. American media Russian. .

Bruveris recalled that Lithuania consistently supports the creation of the International Tribunal to prosecute Putin and his entourage, conducted its own investigations into the crimes of the Russian and Belarusian authorities.

“In this case, the main objective is not only and not so much the legal aspect of the case and what will come out of it in the end. The main thing is the political symbols, I would even say that it is a kind of political pressure on the partners,” he explained.

With this symbolism, Bruvis also explains the choice made by Lithuanian officials. “Three, five or fifty – the number of such people is not that great. This is a signal to the whole legion of Russian propagandists that none of them will be forgotten, will not be forgiven, and that these three are just the beginning. Psychologically, it is quite clear that all the main representatives of the Putin regime, and in particular the propagandists, all these years have been and continue to be in absolute certainty that they will not be punished for what they did. And this is the main “chain” of the Russian dictatorship, all representatives of which understand that they are members of a giant organized criminal group (organized criminal group – AP). But they are inspired by the fact that they are inaccessible (for international justice), so their psychological ‘connection’ must be laid down, and Lithuania is trying to do this,” Vytautas Bruveris underlined.

Independent analyst Marius Laurinavičius notes that the decision to open an investigation into the crimes of three Russian propagandists, taken at the request of the chairman of the Lithuanian Seimas commission, is not just a symbolic gesture. “I just watched (the performance) of one of them – Krasovsky. It is under EU and UK sanctions, but is unsanctioned by the US and Japan. Of course, he cannot cross the border of the Republic of Lithuania, but he can cross the border of the United States. If such an investigation is launched and ends with something, then it will be possible to prosecute for the actions he committed through the channels of Interpol,” says the Lithuanian expert.

He said that the investigation launched by the Lithuanian Public Prosecutor’s Office will give a wake-up call to other Kremlin propagandists. After all, even if they feel safe in Russia, the universal jurisdiction that applies in this case is very important.

“People who commit crimes against humanity can only be relatively safe in the territory of their own country, because they will be persecuted everywhere. And this is the main practical meaning,” Laurinavičius said in an interview with a correspondent for the Russian American media service. -As for the reaction of other EU countries, here, I think, there is another goal that Laurynas Kasciunas set for himself when addressing the Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office. May this universal jurisdiction be applied more widely in all other countries. This is a political example for our partners: that we must use the existing tools that we already have in our hands to counter what Russia is doing now. Lithuania always assumes the role of pioneer, which encourages others to follow its example.

The case opened by the Republic Prosecutor’s Office of Lithuania against Solovyov, Skabeeva and Krasovsky has both symbolic and political significance, Nerijus Malyukevicius, senior lecturer at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of the Vilnius University, is convinced of this.

The expert clarifies: “We are discussing here the responsibility of Kremlin officials and more specifically of Putin for the war started and for the crimes (of the Russian army) in Bucha, Irpin and in other settlements of Ukraine. But, of course, in all this there is a specific role of Kremlin propagandists. And that’s the symbolism of this case, because you can talk about the symbolism of the indictment against Putin by the International Criminal Court, but then it goes into practice.

Malyukevičius says: the legal side of the matter will come into effect when the opportunity arises. But the symbolic component, which indicates that not only those who committed them directly, but also those who incited them to commit them, will be found guilty of crimes on Ukrainian territory, is also very important.

In September last year, the broadcasting of all Russian television channels was interrupted in Lithuania. How did this affect the mentality of Lithuanian society and, first of all, Russian-speaking citizens? The correspondent of the Russian service American media posed this question to a Lithuanian political scientist.

“The radius of action of the Kremlin media has really reduced considerably in our country, and you have to be very attached to these channels to find the technical possibilities to continue watching them, for example via the Internet. After all, there are none in the cable networks, and our respective institutions monitor so-called “pirated resources”, replied Professor Maliukevičius.

He compared the current situation in EU countries and, in particular, in the Baltic States, with the times of the Cold War, when the Berlin Wall symbolically separated Western Europe and the “socialist camp”. And now, Maliukevicius points out, Russian leaders, like their Soviet predecessors, seek to divide European society over military and material assistance to Ukraine, using the best practices of the past: trying to discredit Ukrainian refugees and intimidate with the threat of a Third World War.

“Now we are part of the ‘collective West’ which the Kremlin is trying to manipulate for its own benefit. And the Kremlin is still focused on breaking up the unity of the West, ”explains the interlocutor of American media.

He also notes that with the approach of the NATO summit in Vilnius, the Kremlin will intensify its attempts to sow discord between the member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, following which they should be ready repel further disinformation attacks.

Read the Ukraine War News Latest Today on The Eastern Herald.