Vilnius court hears Ragelskis appeal in his absence

Vilnius Regional Court began hearing Laurynas Ragelskis’s appeal on Tuesday, although he did not attend, LRT reported. Ragelskis was convicted of inciting hostility against Jews and Belarusians and desecrating a place of public respect.

His lawyer, Violeta Bazienė, told the court that her client had not received the summons and had said he was going away. The court’s presiding judge, Giedrė Telksnienė, said no request to postpone the hearing for objective reasons had been submitted. The panel decided to hear the appeals without Ragelskis.

Both the prosecution and the defence have appealed the Vilnius City District Court’s verdict. Prosecutor Mantas Januškevičius is seeking a tougher sentence: two years of restriction of liberty instead of the one year and nine months imposed. Ragelskis’s lawyer is asking the court to acquit him or impose community service instead, and to lift the ban on his use of social media.

The appeal hearing had been due to start in mid-September but was postponed after the lawyer said Ragelskis could not attend because he had been beaten. Police said Ragelskis reported that on August 31, at about 6 p.m., an unknown man arrived by car at a courtyard on Subačiaus Street, punched him in the face and left. Ragelskis suffered a jaw injury. Police are investigating the incident as a suspected breach of public order.

On March 4, the district court found Ragelskis guilty on all counts and imposed a combined sentence of one year and nine months of restriction of liberty without intensive supervision, as well as a fine of 12,500 euros. The court ordered him to complete a behaviour correction programme within six months of receiving the verdict, to work or register with the Employment Service throughout his sentence, and to perform 100 hours of unpaid work at health care or social services institutions serving older people or people with disabilities.

The verdict also barred him from using social networks and other online platforms to create, publish, share or distribute content, comment on online material, livestream, or create websites and accounts. He was also prohibited from using other people’s accounts. The restrictions do not cover digital services needed to access public and administrative services, including Sodra, the State Tax Inspectorate, e-health and online banking. If the verdict takes effect, the Probation Service will supervise compliance.

The case was sent to court in 2022. Proceedings were postponed six times before they began, including over Ragelskis’s requests for the case to be translated into Russian and difficulties finding a lawyer. During the trial he spoke Russian in court, requiring an interpreter, although he spoke Lithuanian with his lawyer. The case involved numerous motions, including attempts to disqualify the judge, prosecutor and court clerks. A total of 67 hearings were held before the verdict was announced.