Accused woman yells at prosecutor during Lithuania hate speech trial

A Belgian and Jamaican citizen living in Lithuania shouted at and confronted a prosecutor during a hearing at Vilnius City District Court, which is examining charges of disturbing public order and inciting hatred against a group based on sex, race and skin colour, LRT reported.

The 46 year old defendant, Kamisha Latoya Menns, has repeatedly delayed the start of the proceedings since the case was sent to court in February by rejecting lawyers, seeking to replace them and filing various requests, including for the prosecutor Edvinas Navickas to be removed and for hearings to be held behind closed doors. The trial began in June.

Friday’s hearing opened with an argument between Menns and Judge Ieva Narbutaitė. The judge told the defendant to put away her phone and delete photographs she had taken after the hearing began. Menns objected in a raised voice that journalists had filmed her, while the judge explained that they had done so before the hearing started.

“There is no legal basis for such a case against a Black woman in a country where 99 percent of the population is white,” Menns said.

She again sought to have her state appointed lawyer, Saulius Azbainis, removed. The judge reminded her that the request had already been rejected at the previous hearing and that she could find a lawyer who met her requirements. Menns continued to repeat, in a raised voice, that the appointed lawyer was incompetent.

The judge warned that if the same issue was raised again, the court would stop interpreting it and continue the proceedings. Menns, who speaks English, replied that she had the right to talk about violations of her rights.

The judge also presented a request from the alleged victim, Liepkalnis ski centre employee Danielė Akulavičiūtė, to add material showing that Menns continued to publish racist, defamatory and false statements online that incited hatred based on sex and race. The material included evidence that Menns had been spreading racist views online for several years. The judge refused to add it, ruling that it was not connected to the specific incident at the Liepkalnis ski centre, where Menns had allegedly publicly verbally abused and insulted employees.

Menns also asked the court to summon and question Prosecutor General Nida Grunskienė. Navickas opposed the request, and the judge rejected it because Grunskienė had not been present at the incident.

Menns became angry and shouted that she had written to the prosecutor general about threats against her and her daughter and danger to their lives. The judge said she could contact law enforcement about the threats, but that the matter was unrelated to the case. She then called a break because of the defendant’s emotional state.

During the break, Menns confronted Navickas, pointing at him and shouting that he was the person most responsible and was using the case to advance his career.

“It is strange to hear that. In hate speech cases, I also represent Black people,” Navickas told BNS about the incident.

The court had planned to question Menns after the break, but she exercised her right to give evidence after the other participants in the proceedings had been questioned.

Akulavičiūtė testified at Friday’s hearing. She said Menns had arrived at the ski centre’s ticket office in a bad mood. Staff offered her a special application that would have made the tickets cheaper, but she did not listen to what they were saying.

A colleague working at the neighbouring window sold Menns the tickets. After paying by card, Menns realised she had overpaid and began shouting and reaching through the ticket window in an attempt to grab the cashier.

“I was frightened. Such things do not happen here,” Akulavičiūtė said.