Lithuania to use universal jurisdiction to bring Łukašenka regime to justice

June 12, BPN. Lithuania continues investigating crimes against humanity committed by the Alaksandr Łukašenka regime under universal jurisdiction, Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska has told BPN.

Prosecutors’ work is complicated by the fact that many witnesses and evidence are located in Belarus, she told the participants at an international conference in Vilnius. Victims and witnesses are also afraid to testify because their families are still in Belarus, she added.

Belarusian regime’s crimes should remain on the international agenda, including the authorities’ complicity in Russia’s war on Ukraine, she said.

Motivation and political will matter a lot in such cases, she added citing the issue of an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin in less than a year after Lithuania appealed to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Lithuania mentioned Łukašenka’s complicity in Russia’s war on Ukraine in its appeals to the ICC and will continue doing so, she said.

The ongoing investigation of the Łukašenka regime’s crimes in Lithuania is only the first step in bringing the perpetrators to justice, Dobrowolska said, noting that the Lithuanian Seimas issued a resolution recently to call for an international tribunal to investigate human rights abuses in Belarus.