Last week, the Vilnius District Court sent to the Russian foreign ministry documents of the January 1991 events’ civil lawsuit against Mikhail Gorbachev, a former Soviet leader.
“The documents were sent to the Russian Foreign Ministry in accordance with the Hague International Convention,” Aurimas Žukauskas, spokesman for Vilnius District Court, told BNS on Monday.
“We requested to hand one copy over to Mikhail Gorbachev,” he added.
The civil lawsuit was filed by the families of four people killed by Soviet troops during the January 1991 crackdown. The four victims are Vidas Maciulevičius, 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 their loved ones on January 13, 1991. The plaintiffs say they have submitted evidence to the court to substantiate their claim that Gorbachev, as commander-in-chief of the Soviet Armed Forces, had control over the troops on January 11-13, 1991, but failed to take steps to prevent an international crime of aggression.
The Soviet Union used military force in its attempt to remove the legitimate government of Lithuania, which had declared independence on March 11, 1990.
In March 2019, a Vilnius court convicted 67 former Soviet officials and military officers, including former Soviet Defence Minister Dmitry Yazov, of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The majority of them were handed prison sentences in absentia, as Russia and Belarus refused to extradite them.
Gorbachev was not named as a defendant in the case. Attempts were made to have the 91-year-old former Soviet leader testify as a witness but without success.
Read more: Families of Lithuania’s January 1991 victims sue Gorbachev over Soviet crackdown
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