60 public figures demand probe into Kaunas mosque disturbance

Sixty representatives of Lithuanian civil society, culture, science, journalism and politics have signed an open letter calling for a pre-trial investigation into the disruption of worship and humiliation of worshippers at a mosque in Kaunas on September 11, LRT reported.

The signatories said the incident, during which a group of bikers allegedly staged a provocation outside the mosque and brought a pig’s head, challenged Lithuanian society, the state and the legal system.

They said the organised group humiliated worshippers and displayed symbols insulting to them. The actions, they argued, violated the constitutional right to freedom of belief and the free practice of religion.

The letter said the incident could meet the criteria set out in Article 171 of Lithuania’s Criminal Code, concerning interference with religious services or ceremonies, and Article 170, concerning incitement against an ethnic, religious or other group. The signatories also said it could not be ruled out that incitement to hatred was being used as a tool of Russian hybrid influence.

The authors stressed that people in a democratic society have the right to disagree, criticise, protest and raise uncomfortable questions about migration, Islam, integration and government policy. However, they said such actions must remain within the law.

They called on authorities to treat the incident not as another political dispute, but as a question of the boundaries of society, human dignity and respect for others.

The signatories demanded a thorough pre-trial investigation, the identification of those who organised and carried out the incident, and a legal assessment of their actions under Lithuanian law. They said potentially criminal acts should be stopped as soon as they begin rather than merely observed.