The Vilnius District Court on Wednesday named Baranauskas and Antonov as suspects beyond the reach of Lithuanian law-enforcement, one of its prerequisites for putting persons in hiding on trial, the Prosecutor General’s Office said.
The Seimas last October passed amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure to allow investigating crimes that have caused significant damage to the state even if suspected perpetrators are outside of Lithuania and cannot be extradited to the country and, at a later stage, trying these persons without them being present in court.
The Prosecutor General’s Office plans to notify Russia’s authorities in the near future of suspicions brought against Antonov and Baranauskas and to submit a request for international legal assistance to inform the former managers of Snoras about these suspicions.
It is likely that Lithuanian law-enforcement officials will in the future take similar steps against Vladimir Romanov, the majority shareholder of Lithuania’s bankrupt Ūkio Bankas, who is also hiding in Russia.
Russia has granted political asylum to Baranauskas and Romanov.
Snoras’ operations were suspended in late 2011 and bankruptcy proceedings against Ūkio Bankas were opened in 2013