Karač accuses Lithuanian minister of pressure and seeks international review

Belarusian activist Olga Karač has accused Lithuanian officials of possible pressure and says she will seek an independent legal assessment of their actions, LRT reports. Her response follows Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas’s statement that he intends to ask law enforcement to examine the activities of the organisation she leads, Our House.

Karač said Deputy Interior Minister Linas Drazdauskas threatened a week ago to deport her to Belarus. She has complained to the relevant Lithuanian authorities and suspects the minister’s public comments about checking her organisation may be linked to her complaint against the deputy minister.

She said she does not dispute the state’s right to conduct lawful inspections, but stressed that an inspection does not prove wrongdoing. She added that citing national security does not remove officials’ duty to respect human rights and ensure decisions are lawful. Karač also firmly denied allegations that she cooperates with Russian intelligence services, saying that documenting human rights violations, publishing reports and contacting national or international bodies do not in themselves prove hostile activity against the state.

Karač says deportation would endanger her

Karač said she holds no citizenship or permanent residence rights in another country and knows of no safe third country to which she could lawfully be deported. She said Belarus has sentenced her to 12 years in prison, making deportation there a threat to her freedom and safety.

She cited Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits sending a person to a country where they face torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. Karač also questioned what political, legal and reputational costs Lithuania would be prepared to bear if it tried to deport a Belarusian human rights defender who has already been sentenced to 12 years in prison there, and who would take political responsibility for the consequences.

She plans to contact international bodies

Karač said she intends to inform relevant international institutions and Lithuania’s partners about the situation of human rights defenders in the country and the possible use of migration and national security procedures to exert pressure. She said she would seek an independent assessment of Lithuanian officials’ conduct, including that of Katelynas, and legal accountability if violations are found.

She described her planned action as an effort to use all national and international human rights protection mechanisms provided for by law, rather than a political ultimatum or threat. Karač also said she would scrutinise the Interior Ministry’s work and the legality and quality of its decisions, document relevant facts and prepare public reports.

In 2023, Lithuania’s Migration Department refused to grant Karač asylum, having deemed her a threat to national security. The same decision offered her a one-year temporary residence permit on humanitarian grounds. She has held a residence permit in Lithuania since January 2014.