Vilnius court closes 1991 crackdown case, to issue ruling in February

January 13 case files
TEISMAI.LT

“The panel (of judges) is leaving the courtroom to write down its judgment, which will be pronounced on February 18, 2019,” Judge Ainora Kornelija Macevičienė of the Vilnius Regional Court said.

Two Russian officers stood trial in court and 64 other defendants were tried in absentia for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Most of them were represented in court by public defenders.

Prosecutors demand that Dmitry Yazov, the Soviet Union’s last defense minister, KGB officer Mikhail Golovatov and several other officers are imprisoned for life for their roles in the crackdown.

The first hearing in the case was held on January 27, 2016.

Fourteen civilians were killed and hundreds more were wounded when the Soviet troops stormed the TV Tower and the Radio and Television Committee building in Vilnius in the early hours of January 13, 1991.

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