Lithuania’s authorities took too much time to process Belarusian activist Olga Karach’s asylum request, thus violating her rights, the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court ruled on Wednesday.
The court ruled that Karach’s right to have the decision by the Migration Department on her asylum request made “within the time limits established by law” was violated.
Under the law, an asylum request must be processed no later than six months after the submission date.
It took almost a year to process the activist’s request, even though the law does not allow extending the time limit, the court noted.
“The maximum time limits for examining an asylum application are designed to protect the rights of the asylum seeker. Lengthy procedures can leave asylum seekers in a state of uncertainty about their legal position,” the ruling reads.
The court, however, dismissed as unfounded Karach’s claim for 5,000 euros in non-pecuniary damages, plus five percent annual interest, but ordered the Migration Department to pay 400 euros in legal costs.
Karach said on Wednesday that she would appeal the decision, adding that the amount of compensation was insufficient.
“Moreover, we are currently gathering facts and intend to submit a detailed monitoring report to the European Commission on the massive violations of the time limits for processing asylum applications in Lithuania, where cases take more than a year to be processed,” she said in a statement.
Rokas Pukinskas, spokesperson for the Migration Department, told BNS on Thursday that the authority would not appeal the court’s ruling.
The Migration Department a few weeks ago denied Karach asylum, citing as the reason the State Security Department’s (VSD) conclusion that her residence in the country posed a national security threat due to her ties with Russian intelligence.
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However, the migration body granted the activist a temporary residence permit in Lithuania on humanitarian grounds.
The activist has been receiving residence permits in Lithuania since 2014 and applied for asylum last year.
Our House says it provides humanitarian, psychological, and other assistance to Belarusians both in their homeland and in Lithuania and monitors human rights violations.
Karach was placed on the terrorist list by Belarusian KGB in 2021 and her organisation was declared extremist by Minsk in 2022.
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