Vilnius court sends 1991 crackdown case documents to Gorbachev via Russian ministry

• Published date: 17 May 2022
• Publication title: LETA

A Vilnius court last week sent certain documents of a civil lawsuit filed against Mikhail Gorbachev by families of four people killed by Soviet troops during the January 1991 crackdown to the Russian Foreign Ministry, asking it to hand one copy to the then Soviet leader.

"The documents were sent to the Russian Foreign Ministry in accordance with the Hague International Convention," Aurimas Zukauskas, spokesman for Vilnius City District Court, told BNS on Monday.

"One copy is requested to be handed over to Mikhail Gorbachev in accordance with the Hague Convention," he added.

The four victims are Vidas Maciulevicius, Algimantas Petras Kavoliukas, Virginijus Druskis and Apolinaras Juozas Povilaitis. In total, 14 civilians were killed and hundreds more were injured 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.

The court accepted the lawsuit and decided to send the documents to Gorbachev after the plaintiffs had the documents translated into Russian for the defendant, as ordered by the court,

Once notified of the lawsuit, the defendant is required to submit his response to the claim. No hearing has yet been scheduled in the case.

The civil action was brought on behalf of six individuals who lost...