Yesterday the Vilnius District
court started to examine the criminal case of Aleksandras Lileikis, who
is indicted with collaborating with theNazis during the war.
In September, physicians had
listed a number of dieseases Lileikis was suffering from, and confirmed
that Lileikis was able to participate in court sessions, although „any
stress situation can provoke a condition dangerous for his life. Two
earlier expertises had stated Lileikis was not able to testify before
the Prosecutor.
Before the session, a first aid
car had been ordered to the court building to give Lileikis medical aid
in case he should feel sick. The medical expert Henrikas Ulevicius was
also called to the court who had signed the last expertise about
Lileikis‘ state of health.
Before 9 o‘ clock, a jeep
approached the court building, a wheelchair was taken out and Lileikis
placed into it. In the wheelchair, Lileikis was carried up to the second
floor. The session took place in the same large room where Mykolas
Burokevicius and Juozas Jermalavicius are being tried at the moment;
earlier the cases of Henrikas Daktaras [a mafioso] and Audrius
Butkevicius [member of Seimas] were examined here.
Not a single witness appeared to
the trial. Kazys Gimzauskas, who used to be Lileikis‘ deputy because of
his poor state of health, and Jonas Bukauskas, who also served in the
Security Police during the war, has passed away. The victim Danuta Konas
also did not appear because she was ill. [With a picture by Bronius
Talaikis titled „During the court session, the patient Aleksandras
Lileikis wore a special neckband“] The State Accusators as well as the
defender agreed to examine the case in depth. The leading judge viktoras
Kazys asked Lileikis if he could stand up to speak and said if Lileikis
was not able to stand while speaksing, he was allowed to sit. Lileikis
said, „I am sorry, but I cannot get up.“ Lileikis has severe audition
problems, so his daughter, who had come from the USA, repeated the
judge‘s words to him.
The session began with a check
of Lileikis‘ personal data. He was born on June 10, 1907, has a juridic
university degree, is a widower, pensioner, and handicapped person of
the first degree. When asked if he had any requests before the juridic
interrogation began, Lileikis said: „I dedicated my physical and
spiritual strength to the state and the nation. Now I am powerless and
chained to my bed by my diseases. Today, with th ehelp of good people, I
rose from my bed and came here. I want to say that I am absolutely
innocent.“ Then he said a prayer. Immediately afterwards he started to
feel bad, his daughter gave him some medicine. A break of half an hour
was declared. After the break, the expert Mr. Tulevicius [sic] informed
the court that the accused had endured stress which was possibly caused
by the photographers and the TV operators, and that he had been taken
away to hospital. The expert said that Lileikis‘ condition could change,
and therefore the final conclusion that he was able to participate in
the trial did not contradict the earlier ones which had stated Lileikis
unfit for interrogation. When Lileikis‘ defender asked him if he would
feel responsible if Lileikis died, the expert answered with „yes“.
In the courtroom, there were
also the former political prisoner Petras Cidzikas and the leader of the
Lithuanian Nationalsocialist Unity Union (LNSVS), Mindaugas Murza. They
had come to support Mr. Lileikis. Policeman kept the order in the court
room, so there were no incidents. [The following passage quotes what
Lileikis is accused of and mentions that he was stripped of his US
citizenship because he had concealed some biographical facts upon entry
to the USA.]
The next court session will take
place on Monday; documents from the hospital will be submitted then.
In a declaration distributed
yesterday by Efraim Zuroff, leader of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, it
was said that Lileikis had declared he considered himself a Lithuanian
patriot. According to the release, it was important for the Lithuanian
officials to sentence such „patriots“ according to the law, and this was
related to the Lithuanian hope in the integration process into a
democratic Europe. - - -
.. [Mrs. Konas arrived only
after the 30 minutes‘ break; S.D.]
From Vilnius: SLW
for haGalil.com
