2024-08-05 20:17:39
The young man behaved strangely during the process, he was even asked to leave the courtroom.
According to the State Security Department, the so-called “sovereigns” follow an anti-state extremist ideology that denies the legitimacy of the state.
S. Varnauskas, who went to serve in the army, declared that he was born a “living man”.
The young man testified that he was a sovereign member of the Gaudiya Vaishnava religious community. This community is considered one of the five “sovereign” groups operating in Lithuania.
The “sovereigns” are convinced that they can not fulfill the duties of the residents enshrined in the law.
The arguments were not convincing
The accused claimed during the trial that he was a member of the Gaudiya Vaishnava religious community and that his religious beliefs did not allow him to perform military service.
“The court noted that Article 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania stipulates that a person’s convictions, practiced religion or belief cannot justify a crime or non-compliance with laws. According to the case data, he became a member of the Gaudiya Vaishnava religious community only in 2024. on January 3, therefore, the claims of the defendant’s defense counsel that the defendant’s religious beliefs were formed a long time ago are considered unproven,” states the court report released by Tautvilės Merkevičiūtė, the assistant to the chairman of the Kaunas district court for relations with the public and the media.
“After evaluating the objections and declarative statements of SV, the court decided that the person’s actions showed a direct intention to not fulfill the duties of a conscript.
It should be emphasized that in this particular case, SV did not indicate to the conscription and recruitment service that he cannot perform service due to religious beliefs, did not ask him to be released from service for this reason, such arguments were not evaluated accordingly and a decision was made that, among other things, he would who could complain according to the established procedure.
This reason was stated only during the pre-trial investigation and during the trial, which can be evaluated as a person’s choice of defensive position. All the evidence examined and evaluated by the court allows the court to state that the guilt of the accused SV for committing a criminal offense is fully proven and properly qualified” – stated in the judgment of judge Inga Ambrulevičiūtė-Januškeviče.
Talked about untouchability
Birštonietis came to hear the verdict with a group of his supporters.
Even before the start of the trial, S. Varnauskas taught that every person has the right to life, liberty and personal integrity.
According to him, his freedom and inviolability are violated by conscription.
The prosecutor’s office claimed that official documents related to military service were sent to the young man, but he ignored them.
Previously, he was administratively punished three times for not fulfilling his duties as a conscript.
According to officials, the “sovereign” received obligations to deliver documents to the military institution and to come to it himself, but he did not do so.
After seeing the malicious actions, the officials opened a criminal case.
Avoiding conscription is punishable by a fine or arrest.
They turned the courtroom into a circus
At the end of June, S. Varnauskas staged a strange performance at the Kaunas district court. After declaring that he was a free man, the “sovereign” added that other people were slaves.
S. Varnauskas explained that he did not have an identity document – instead, he submitted a religious community certificate to the court, introducing himself as a “person”.
“I only represent the person I manage. I live everywhere – at home, I don’t have an address,” said the “sovereign”, without answering the judge’s specific questions.
At that time, Birštonietis refused to testify, arguing that he was “not a person”.
When the hearing started, S. Varnauskas did not stop filming with his mobile phone, although it is forbidden to do so, he did not respond to warnings to stop, so he was asked to leave the hall.
During the next hearing, on July 22, during his closing speech, prosecutor Evaldas Tarasevičius asked for 1.5 thousand to be allocated to the “sovereign”. EUR fine, and the defendant himself asked to be acquitted because he cannot perform military service due to his religious beliefs. S. Varnauskas claimed that he did not receive the e-mails sent to him from the military establishment, because they were sent to the “spam” section.
A couple of “sovereigns” are also on trial
The scandalous Mindaugas and Inga Vilčinskas are also at the door of the same court – the spouses associated with the “sovereigns” are accused of kidnapping their three children and attempting to illegally cross the Lithuanian border with Belarus.
The Vilčinskas, who did not recognize Lithuanian laws and the state of Lithuania as a whole, did not have documents, did not send their children to school, and did not create the conditions for them to socialize, came under the attention of child rights protection specialists.
In May 2023, the Kaunas District Court allowed the Vilčinskas’ children to be taken, but later they were returned to their parents.
2024-08-05 20:17:39