Defendant requests medical examination for co-accused Švenčionienė in treason case
Kazimieras Juraitis, currently on trial for alleged actions against Lithuania, has formally requested that Vilnius Regional Court order a forensic medical examination for his co-accused Erika Švenčionienė, LRT reports.
In an urgent submission shared with the Baltic News Service (ELTA), Juraitis argues that the examination is necessary “to determine whether her continued forced participation in court proceedings poses a risk of sudden death.” His request follows a dramatic interruption in Monday’s hearing when Švenčionienė suffered a hypertensive crisis and dizziness, prompting emergency medical intervention.
Juraitis claims Švenčionienė has since developed new life-threatening symptoms, including numbness in her left leg. Her lawyer, Svetlana Naidenko, confirmed to the court on Tuesday that her client’s condition—marked by disorientation, high blood pressure, and the need for injections—prevented her from participating. “She was supposed to be taken to a hospital in Vilnius, but she refused,” Naidenko stated. “In my view, she cannot attend the hearing.”
Prosecutor Redas Savickas acknowledged that detaining Švenčionienė against her will in her current state would be unlawful. Presiding Judge Mindaugas Povilanskas adjourned the session until June 4 and ordered Švenčionienė to provide medical documentation justifying her absence. The court is now considering whether to seek independent medical assessment of her capacity to stand trial.
Švenčionienė and Juraitis, both former representatives of the now-dissolved International Good Neighbourliness Forum, face charges of acting against Lithuania’s interests. Prosecutors allege that in 2022 they traveled to Belarus, where they appeared in state media broadcasts endorsing authoritarian policies, denied the legitimacy of Lithuania’s parliament, and visited the controversial Astravets Nuclear Power Plant—a facility previously deemed a national security threat by Lithuanian authorities.
Švenčionienė has maintained that the forum operated legally under Lithuanian law and that her visits to Belarus were humanitarian in nature. The charges stem in part from their public support for a 2022 Belarusian referendum that abolished presidential term limits and revoked the country’s nuclear-neutral status.
In January 2023, Vilnius Regional Court ordered the liquidation of the International Good Neighbourliness Forum, ruling that its activities undermined Lithuania’s interests and disseminated false information, including claims of electoral fraud in Lithuania.