Lithuanian court rejects plea of Medininkai checkpoint massacre convict Konstantin Mikhailov to return case to prosecutor

His lawyers said the indictment fell short of requirements prescribed by the law. However, the three-member panel of judges said the indictment contained no shortfalls that would impede with the hearing of the case.

With the motion rejected, the court is publishing a communiqué on the Medininkai case.

Aloyzas Kruopys, judge of the Court of Appeals presiding over the panel of judges in the Mikhailov case, said at the hearing on Wednesday that Mikhailov had sent a letter signed on 21 March to the President's Office and the parliament, asking to be released from detention and terminate the case due to statute of limitations.

As the President's Office and the Seimas are not in charge of the questions raised in the letter, the document was forwarded to the Court of Appeals.

"The panel included the documents in the case, the questions will not be answered now and be left for the final document that will be approved in the future," Kruopys said.

During the Wednesday's hearing, parties in the case made their statements about the possibility to try Mikhailov for crimes against humanity.

"The motion of the Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office on extension of the boundaries of extradition has been satisfied, only the part in connection to actions against the Republic of Latvia was refused," prosecutor Dūda has said.

In his words, Latvia decided to "allow criminal prosecution under Article 100 of the Criminal Code and indicated that, as Mikhailov had previously stood trial in Latvia, he could not be prosecuted for the deeds he has been found guilty of."

Article 100 of the Lithuanian Criminal Code envisages liability for treatment of human beings in a manner that is banned by the international law. The crime is listed among “war crimes and crimes against humanity."

Last May, a Vilnius court sentenced Mikhailov (formerly Nikulin), former officer of the Soviet OMON special militia, to life imprisonment for killing Lithuanian officers on duty on 31 July 1991.

The ruling was later appealed by Mikhailov and by prosecutors who wanted to re-qualify charges.

Mikhailov disagrees to stand trial on charges of crimes against humanity, therefore, a consent was requested from Latvia as a country that handed Mikhailov over to Lithuania in 2007.

Last year, a Vilnius court established that Mikhailov and other suspects, including former OMON officers Andrey Laktionov and Alexander Ryzhov, led by Cheslav Mlynik, intentionally killed seven officers Mindaugas Balavakas and Algimantas Juozakas (officers of the Special Division ARAS), Juozas Janonis and Algirdas Kazlauskas (officers of the traffic police), Antanas Musteikis, Stanislovas Orlavičius and Ričardas Rabavičius (customs officers). The only survivor, customs officer Tomas Šernas, suffered severe brain damage and became disabled. The massacre occurred at about 5 a.m. on 31 July 1991.

Russia has refused to extradite Laktyionov and Mlynik to Lithuania, no answer has been received in connection to Ryzhov, the Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office says in its website.