Lithuanian court upholds life imprisonment for convicted crime boss Henrikas Daktaras

Lithuania’s Court of Appeal has rejected an appeal by Henrikas Daktaras and upheld his life sentence without possibility of parole, state broadcaster LRT and the ELTA news agency reported on Monday.

The court dismissed arguments that Daktaras’ sentence should be commuted to a fixed-term imprisonment after he completed the mandatory 20-year minimum for life sentences. Under Lithuanian law, a life term may be converted to a fixed term only if strict conditions are met, including sustained behavioural change, rehabilitation progress, and a low risk of reoffending.

While the court acknowledged that Daktaras had complied with his individual resocialisation plan and shown recent signs of behavioural improvement, it ruled these changes were neither sufficient nor stable enough to guarantee his safe reintegration into society. The judges also cited his “ambivalent attitude” toward his crimes—expressing remorse while simultaneously questioning the court’s verdict—as well as instances of impulsive behaviour.

A risk assessment found Daktaras still posed a “moderate” likelihood of reoffending, with only a slight downward trend. The ruling is final and not subject to further appeal.

Now 68, Daktaras has been serving his sentence in Pravieniškės Prison since 2018. He was first convicted in 2013 for leading an armed criminal organisation responsible for murders, robberies, and extortion between 1993 and 2000. The Supreme Court upheld his life sentence in 2016 after rejecting his cassation appeal.

In its original verdict, Klaipėda Regional Court described Daktaras as a “highly dangerous” figure whose criminal activity was a “way of life,” making rehabilitation through conventional imprisonment impossible.