Dmitry Yazov

Lithuania's Prosecutor General's Office said on Wednesday a separate pre-trial investigation into the 1991 Soviet crackdown on Lithuania's independence movement will be continued.

A Vilnius court on Friday completed hearings in a mass trial related to the 1991 Soviet crackdown on protesters in the Lithuanian capital, with the ruling to be issued next February.

Mikhail Golovatov, a former KGB officer who is being tried in absentia for his role in the January 1991 bloody crackdown on protesters in Vilnius, says the Soviet army units came to Lithuania under a direct order from the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev.

Yuri Mel, a Russian citizen standing trial in Lithuania for his involvement in the January 1991 crackdown on protesters in Vilnius, says that the Soviet army was misused in a criminal way during the bloody events.

Mikhail Golovatov, a former KGB officer who is being tried in absentia for his role in the January 1991 bloody crackdown on protesters in Vilnius, does not admit to the charges and regards the case as political, his lawyer said.

The defense lawyer of Yuriy Mel, a Russian citizen arrested in Lithuania and now standing trial for his involvement in the January 1991 bloody crackdown on protesters in Vilnius, calls her client "a victim and hostage" to the Soviet political authorities of that time and describes the case as politi...

The Lithuanian judges and prosecutors working on the Jan. 13 case downplay Russia's decision to open criminal cases against them and say they have no plans to travel to Russia.

Russia's decision to open criminal cases against the Lithuanian prosecutors and judges working on the Jan. 13 case is an attempt to influence their work, Lithuania's Prosecutor General Evaldas Pašilis says, adding that it runs counter to the democratic principles of justice.

Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas Viktoras Pranckietis on Monday accused Moscow of putting pressure on Lithuanians officials after Russia launched a probe against the judges and prosecutors working on the January 13 case.

Dainius Žalimas, president of Lithuania's Constitutional Court, has called Russia's decision to launch an investigation against Lithuanian judges and prosecutors working on the January 13 case "a parody of justice".

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius has warned the prosecutors and judges working on the January 13 case not to travel to Russia or its "satellite countries" after Russia open criminal cases against them.

Russia has launched cases against Lithuanian law enforcement officers hearing the January 13 cases for propaganda reasons, Lithuanian political scientist Nerijus Maliukevičius said on Monday.

Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called Russia's decision to open criminal cases against Lithuanian prosecutors and judges hearing the January 13 case in Lithuania open pressure on Lithuania, its courts and law enforcement officers.

Vytautas Landsbergis, the first leader of post-independence Lithuania, suggests ignoring Russia's decision to open cases against Lithuanian prosecutors and judges hearing the January 13 case in Lithuania.

A law enforcement investigation in Russia against law enforcement officers hearing the January 13 case in Lithuania is a desperate attempt to deny the tragic events, Agnė Širinskienė, chair of the parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, says.

The sentences proposed by Lithuanian prosecutors for those on trial in absentia in the January 13, 1991 case are fair, Robertas Povilaitis, who lost his father during the bloody events, says.

The Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office asks a court to find former Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov guilty of crimes against humanity during the bloody events of Jan. 13, 1991 in Vilnius and hand him a life sentence.

Public prosecutors from the Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office on Tuesday started delivering their concluding statements in a mass trial related to the bloody events of Jan. 13, 1991 in Vilnius.