Thursday morning, at 6 AM, a police force of 200 blocked the entire Klonio street and forced into the house of Neringa Venckienė, sister of late Kedys. The eight-year-old was taken and handed over to her mother, Stankūnaitė, who was also present at the scene.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė released an announcement, saying that state institutions should look very carefully into the circumstances of the handover operation that involved a minor. She stressed that the child's interests should be put above everything else and any violence, physical or moral, would not be tolerated.
After the police operation, people outside Venckienė's house claimed they would go to protest to the presidential palace in Vilnius. At 10 AM, around 50 people were crowding in the Daukanto Square outside the palace. The rally is expected to last throughout the day.
The police and bailiff who executed the court order say force was not used against the girl, but 36 people were detained for failing to obey police orders.
Stankūnaite has never been charged in the pedophilia case, but the girl's late father Drasius Kedys accused her of letting several men to molest her daughter.
Kedys is suspected of shooting two people in October, 2009, he accused of pedophilia. He was found dead in the spring of 2010.
Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said he was awaiting specialists' conclusions, and added that the public have to comply with law and court orders.
Backstory to the Garliava events
Stankūnaitė's lawyer, Gintaras Černiauskas, said that the girl was feeling well and looked cheerful once she was taken out of Garliava.
"Everything went well. We had prepared for it, we consulted with psychiatrists, as we thought that the girl might need psichological help. But once she was out of what appeared to be a very stressful environment, she started making jokes in the car, chatting with security officers, combing her mother's hair," Černiauskas told 15min.lt.
He confirmed the girl was immediately taken to see a doctor. "We wanted to make sure that she was all right, that she was not harmed before the court order implementation."
Speaking on live TV broadcast, Černiauskas later revealed details of the handover operation. He said that Venckienė, the girls' aunt, clung to her, refusing to let the girl go. The police had to use force to take the girl out of Venckienė's arms.
According to Černiauskas, the eight-year-old was first handed to a social worker who then accompanied her to Stankūnaitė. The lawyer reiterated that the girl was cheerful and communicated with people willingly. "She is already talking about vacation, she wants to take up swimming," Černiauskas said.
Venckienė presented a different version of events. She said that at the time the police were forcing their way into the house, the girl was clinging to her, with her arms around the aunt's neck. Venckienė said that two officers trussed up her arms.
According to her, it was not a social worker, but Stankūnaitė herself who tore the girl away from her. Venckienė also said she saw officers trying to throw a blanket on the girl's head, so she could not see anything.
Venckienė denied she physically abused the officers who were carrying out a court order.
