Ministry launches Kandrotas extradition request to Belarus

Lithuania’s Ministry of Justice has officially asked Belarus to extradite convicted man Antanas Kandrotas, also known as Celofanas, following a request from the Kaunas Regional Court, LRT reported.

“The Ministry of Justice, having received the request from the Kaunas Regional Court, immediately took all the necessary steps and prepared the official extradition request for Antanas Kandrotas. Our goal is to ensure that final court decisions are enforced and that convicted people cannot evade criminal responsibility simply because they are in another country,” Deputy Justice Minister Martynas Dobrovolskis said in a press release.

The Kaunas Regional Court issued a European Arrest Warrant for Kandrotas on June 29. The ministry said the extradition request to Belarus was prepared in accordance with applicable international law and the principles of international legal cooperation in criminal cases.

In June, the Court of Appeal sentenced Kandrotas to three and a half years in prison in a case involving financial crimes. The verdict is final and must be enforced. However, Kandrotas had earlier announced that he had left for Belarus and was therefore not taken into custody.

He is participating remotely in hearings in other cases against him.

In July, the Vilnius City District Court finished hearing a separate criminal case in which Kandrotas is accused of violating public order during a protest near the parliament in December last year. According to the case file, he allegedly struck public figure Valdas Bartkevičius in the face with his right hand after a verbal confrontation at the event.

The prosecutor has asked the court to add seven months to Kandrotas’s existing three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for financial crimes. The court is due to announce its decision in September.

In September last year, Kandrotas was convicted in a case concerning the 2021 riots near the parliament and sentenced to four years in prison. That verdict is not yet final and was reviewed on appeal by the Vilnius Regional Court. A decision is also expected in September.

Kandrotas has also been convicted in another criminal case. In March, the Vilnius City District Court found him guilty of inciting hatred against former parliament member Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius on the grounds of his sexual orientation, as well as violating public order. The court sentenced him to one year in prison. The ruling has been appealed and is not yet final.