A Russian dissident living in Finland, Oksana Chelysheva, has received by e-mail printouts of her eavesdropped conversations with mother of Lithuanian Muslim girl Egle Kusaite Virginia Kusaite. The Muslim is persecuted in Lithuania for embracing Islam. The printouts were sent to her by Lithuanian prosecutor Justas Laucius, who is suspected of having ties with the Russian terrorist gang of the FSB.
A MEP Leonidas Donskis points out that these facts show that Lithuania is moving towards authoritarianism. And although the politician does not claim that the printouts of conversations were sent personally by Laucius, but according to him, spying on Russian dissidents in the European Union is a disgrace for Lithuania.
According to Donskis, this situation can be regarded either as an unforgivable mistake by Lithuanian prosecutors, or as a provocation, or as someone's "joke" to warn Chelysheva (or rather to intimidate her - KC).
As MEP Donskis, the Director of the Institute for Human Rights Watch, G.Mitskyavichyus, and a social activist Darius Kuolis say they are not supposed to answer the question whether Miss Kusaite has been engaged in any illegal activity, but according to them, problems are caused by the secret police of Lithuania.
In addition, a presumption of innocence ceased to work in Lithuania, and Miss Kusaite is de facto considered to be a terrorist.
"What does it mean that she is accused of preparing a terrorist attack? Is it based on a fact that she may have inadvertently spoken on the phone or sent text messages, or said that she would blow herself up because she sympathizes with the oppressed Chechen people? Or is taking a bus to Moscow with a ticket, passport and tourist map of Moscow metro already a preparation for "terrorism"? I could understand the situation if a person was arrested with explosives at a military base inside Russia, then it can be argued that she was preparing a terror attack", said the representative of the Institute for Human Rights Watch.
"I would say that Kusaite's case is interesting for Europe very much, and it is only an illusion in Lithuania that it is only interesting for a few clubs or professionals. There are human rights advocates, who, believe me, are considered neither dissidents nor lepers in Finland. They come here, Chelysheva visited several times Lithuania, they receive information", said Donskis.
"I just wanted to say that we never spoke about a guilt of Kusaite, we do not claim that she is innocent, we only say that the way the investigation is carried out in her case is totally unacceptable in a law-abiding country", said Mitskyavichyus.
Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center
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