Vilnius City Municipality has announced it is revoking all permits for public events issued up to this point, saying that the requests will be considered again in consultation with the police.
The move comes in response to Tuesday's protest rally outside the parliament building that turned into riots, leaving at least 15 police officers injured and 26 people detained.
Riot police eventually dispersed the crowd of protesters at around 02:00 as people refused to leave, using shields and teargas.
“All permits for meetings issued up to now are being revoked and we will reconsider them in light of the new context following yesterday's events,” Adomas Bužinskas, deputy chief executive officer at Vilnius City Municipality, told reporters on Wednesday.
“It is important to note that we are not revoking permits for all events, but only for meetings,” he added. “Commercial and cultural events will go ahead as planned.”
The municipality has asked the State Security Department to look into the organisers of Tuesday’s rally and planned future meetings, according to the official.
The city will also initiate amendments to the Law on Assemblies to give municipal authorities more powers “in making decisions and holding people accountable if they do not abide [by these decisions]”, he said.
Another protest in early September
The municipality has revoked several permits for rallies, with the nearest one scheduled for September 10, according to Bužinskas.
“Several [permits] have been issued in advance. All of them will be reviewed,“ the official said. “There is a permit for 2022; we will review it, too.”
“These are various events – from people protesting against vaccines to people protesting over human rights in Belarus,” he added. “The nearest event that causes us some concern is on September 10. We have revoked the permit for it.”
The permit was issued for a rally of up to 15,000 people in the centre of Vilnius.
According to information available to BNS, Raimondas Grinevičius, an organizer of the Family Defence March last May, is also the organizer of the September 10 rally entitled Stop Dictatorship in Lithuania; Let's Return Lithuania to the Nation; YES to the Dissolution of the Seimas.
The municipality says it will reconsider all requests for permits for public meetings in consultation with the police and other bodies.
Some 5,000 people gathered outside the parliament building on Tuesday at noon to protest against the government's planned restrictions for unvaccinated people.
When the parliamentary sitting ended, several hundred remaining protesters blocked exits from the parliament and the driveway to the parliament's internal courtyard. As officers attempted to push people away, riots broke out and officers were pelted with bottles and flares. Teargas was used against the protesters.
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