Lithuanian convicted of spying for Belarus sues president over failed prisoner swap

A Lithuanian man imprisoned for espionage on behalf of Belarus has filed a lawsuit against President Gitanas Nausėda, demanding €100,000 in non-pecuniary damages for failing to facilitate a prisoner exchange, LRT reports.

Mantas Danielius, currently serving his sentence in Pravieniškės Prison No. 2, claims the presidential administration ignored his repeated requests to initiate a swap with Lithuanian citizens detained in Belarus. His case will be examined next week by the Regional Administrative Court.

In letters obtained by the ELTA news agency, Danielius states that prison officials refused to negotiate a swap, citing lack of legal authority, while his lawyer declined to engage foreign embassies, fearing retaliation from Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD).

Danielius first petitioned the president in May 2025, invoking a provision in Lithuania’s Criminal Code that grants the head of state authority to initiate spy exchanges. He argued that Lithuanian citizens, including Aivaras Kerbelis, remain imprisoned in Belarus for espionage on Lithuania’s behalf, making a reciprocal swap justified.

The presidential office confirmed receiving Danielius’s requests but denied they constituted a formal clemency appeal. “The letters of May 19 and 20, 2025, did not clearly indicate that the applicant was seeking clemency,” the administration stated in its court response.

Danielius’s lawsuit follows reports that eight Lithuanian citizens are currently imprisoned in Belarus, including Miroslavas Trockis, sentenced to 15 years in March 2026 for alleged espionage. Trockis, 35, was arrested in autumn 2024 after traveling to Belarus to visit relatives. Authorities accused him of participating in online groups facilitating illegal border crossings near Šalčininkai.

Lithuania has previously conducted spy swaps, including the 2022 transfer of Nikolai Filipchenko—a high-ranking Russian intelligence officer—to Moscow in exchange for a detained Lithuanian official.