One of the most famous crimes committed in Lithuania – murder of customs officers of Medininkai – has been investigated for 16 years. This seems to be a long period of time not only for the victims and public. The investigation prosecutors feel the same. What are the results of their work?

During pre-trial investigation it was established that the first 7 officers of Lithuanian Police and Customs were murdered, the one who survived (Tomas Šernas) suffered serious injuries while performing his duties. In that fatal morning of 31 July 1991 the men died from the “Kalashnikov” shots at their heads. The criminals stole the firearms of the officers and the police speed radar from the scene of crime.

Information collected during pre-trial investigation lets the prosecutors suspect that the said crime was committed by some militia officers of the Riga Militia Special Task Force (Riga OMON) belonging to the military force of the Ministry of Interior of the former Soviet Union. The said officers had a visit to the Vilnius Militia Special Task Force (Vilnius OMON) on the 30 July. The same night near the former Headquarters of the 42^nd division of the USSR (situated at the Sapiegos street) explosives were detonated by another group of Riga OMON officers.

Most of the weapons stolen from the murdered officers were found during investigation of the case.

Investigation of the crime at the Medininkai customs station is obstructed by the fact that the suspects and most of important witnesses reside in Russia. Pursuant to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and the Lithuanian-Russian Agreement on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Cases the prosecutors of the Prosecutor General’s Office addressed the Prosecutor Genera’s Office of the Russian Federation a number of times regarding questioning of the said persons and execution of other procedural acts. However, only few requests for legal assistance were executed properly. “Only formal explanations were received in respect of majority of requests for legal assistance of particular importance. For example, we ask 10 questions, then receive a letter from Russia providing answers to two of them. And even those very answers are indicated that “we are unable to provide information on this or that”.” said Mr. Rolandas Stankevičius, Investigating Prosecutor of the Organized Crimes and Corruption Investigation Department, Prosecutor General’s Office. According to the prosecutor, Russian law-enforcement officers had failed to reply to 8 requests for legal assistance. When asked of the stage of investigation the prosecutor R. Stankevičius said that they continued searching for weapons used during the murder of our officers, other important information were being collected.

We asked Mr. Rolandas Stankevičius, Prosecutor of the Organized Crimes and Corruption Investigation Department, Prosecutor General’s Office, to answer several additional questions related to the investigation of murder of the Medininkai customs officers.

Could you compare investigation of this case with other murders you had investigated? What are the differences?
I should say that I have investigated quite a number of murders. Although the fact of the crime itself is the same in every case, each criminal case is very individual and investigations differ. Medininkai case can be distinguished by the fact that investigation takes place for an unusually long time. Even the largest cases of smuggling or trafficking in drugs reach the courts faster than this one. Actions of the Russian law-enforcement officers are also strange. I have prosecuted foreigners in Lithuania, I had communications with law-enforcement officers from various countries (including the post-soviet ones), but I have never met such evasion and reluctance to prosecute the murderers an organizers of the crime like in the Medininkai case. On the other hand, we could consider possible reasons for such Russian position: we are willing to question former high officials of the Soviet Union; if the latter were surrendered to Lithuania this might mean an international defeat in the global game of powers and influence to Russia. Moreover, regarding the prevailing certain ideological provisions of Russia today such a State would not only be regarded as weak by its citizens, in my opinion they would find it a traitor. This does not mean we have touched the bottom we are just staying realistic about our possibilities. I think that the current progress of the case is an achievement of both the prosecutors and our country.

Why is there a public opinion that the prosecutors are just waiting for the term of limitation instead of investigating the case?

I find it difficult to say. During all those 16 years I was providing all the possible information to any journalist addressing me. Our front office gave numerous reports to the Seimas regarding the progress of the pre-trial investigation, sent various letters to different politicians. Actually, I find it difficult to understand the beliefs of the public that a public prosecution is possible. Can you imagine a criminal, who read in a newspaper about the fact that the search in his cottage would welcome the officers? Most probably he shall destroy all the evidence. It happens that the mass media helps the interests of the criminals. When we are working for a long time silently, most probably this is the only public opinion which could be formed. Now concerning the term of limitation, if the suspects went hiding from pre-trial investigation the term of limitation is suspended.

There are opinions that the murder of the Medininkai customs officers should be regarded as military crimes, or as genocide of our nation. Could you explain why you did not qualify these acts in such way? Why murder is being incriminated?

Law is a strict science. In order to prove a committed crime it is necessary to establish and objectively ground 4 things – object (fact of the crime), external signs of the crime (place, time, instruments, nature of the crime, causal relationship of the act and results, etc.), subject (person suspected of committing the crime), and subjective side of the case (motives, psychological state of the suspect, etc.). certain criminalized acts indicated in the Criminal Code need a special subject, e.g. bribery (with certain exceptions) is possible only in respect of the persons functioning as public officials or providing public services. The same applies to the military crimes: in order to qualify an act, the subject of the crime must be a combatant (a soldier, if simply speaking). Also, the act must be committed during a war, international armed conflict, occupation or annexation. Neither the officers of Vilnius or Riga OMON are regarded as combatants by the acts of law. Moreover, the Soviet army had the status of withdrawing army. Now, in order to qualify this act as genocide of Lithuanian nation one needs to collect data proving the aims of Riga OMON officers to systematically kill Lithuanians as a group of persons belonging to a single nation, proving that the murders took place on a large scale, that civil people were attacked and killed, also other signs. As it has been mentioned the data was revealed that the officers of our State were murdered because they were performing their official duties.

What are the motives of suspected murders? Could you reveal the versions which were investigated?

Mainly two versions were investigated. One of them: further to the orders of the Ministry of Interior of the former Soviet Union the officers of Vilnius and Riga militia special task force had the objective to disturb the work of the Customs office of re-constituent Lithuania. At that time the OMON officers would frequently attack the stations and beat the officers there. If you can remember, back then Lithuania was neither aggressive nor provoking conflicts, avoided to respond in an analogous way. Political circumstances demanded for peaceful conduct. We paid our price for independence.

We also have information the Medininkai station was chosen for this brutal crime due to reasons of personal revenge.

Another version, which most probably will not be verified by Lithuania, is political. In August of the year when the above-mentioned events took place the U.S. President G. Bush was going to visit Russia. As we know, on 22 August there was a military takeover (putsch) was organized. Who could deny that the reaction powers were trying in this way to imitate upheaval in the territory of former Soviet Union and blame the heads of perestroika in disability to control the situation?

What experience did you gain during this investigation? What would you recommend to other (foreign) law-enforcement officers investigating similar cases? Do you thing such a crime could be committed in Lithuania again?

Investigation is interesting because we actually had to use a number of tactical tricks. I shall not reveal them due to peculiarities of the work of prosecutor. I would wish patience to my colleagues in Latvia who are facing similar problems when investigating the crimes committed by the militia special task force in their territory. And, to tell the truth, I can not imagine a situation then such a tragedy (i.e. a diversion group of a military structure arriving to a customs station of an independent State and shoot all the officers dead) appears again in a EU state protected by NATO or in any other state of democratic world. Today we have different political situation, so no analogous crime is possible. And I believe that Lithuanian reaction to such attempts would be quite different.

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