Lithuanian court receives case over illegal migrant smuggling and document forgery

A criminal case involving the illegal transport of migrants across Lithuania’s border and the forgery of travel documents has been transferred to Panevėžys Regional Court, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

The investigation, led by Panevėžys District Prosecutor’s Office, accuses an Eritrean national of organising the unlawful transit of third-country citizens into Lithuania. Two Ethiopian women face separate charges for using falsified identity documents, according to the prosecutor’s statement.

Border guards intercepted the group in January during a routine check of a Riga–Warsaw coach entering Lithuania. Two young women presented Greek-issued residence permits and refugee travel documents under Eritrean names, but authorities later confirmed they were Ethiopian citizens with no legal claim to the papers.

Further inquiry revealed the women had entered Latvia illegally from Belarus roughly six months earlier and were residing in a refugee centre. Travelling on the same bus was a UK-based Eritrean man, identified as J.M.A., whom the women initially claimed not to know. However, investigators found a bank transfer receipt for £550 sent to J.M.A. on one woman’s phone, along with a photograph of him.

Digital evidence showed one woman had communicated with J.M.A. via social media to coordinate travel from Belarus to Latvia and onward to Poland. Prosecutors allege J.M.A. supplied the forged documents in Riga, enabling the women to purchase bus tickets toward Western Europe.

Under Lithuanian criminal law, organising illegal border crossings carries a prison term of four to ten years. Unlawful acquisition or use of identity documents may result in fines, restricted liberty, arrest, or imprisonment for up to four years.

The case has now been forwarded to Panevėžys Regional Court for trial.