Lithuanian prosecutors launch probes into threats to MP, incitement against homosexuals

VILNIUS – Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office has launched two pre-trial investigations related to threats against openly gay MP Tomas Vytautas Raskevicius.

The probes concerned alleged incitement against homosexuals and an alleged threat to kill or do grievous bodily harm, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported on Thursday.

The probes were opened following the assessment of information provided in Raskevicius’ submissions about Facebook posts and comments whose authors allegedly publicly incited hatred, violence and physical harm against the policymaker due to his sexual orientation, as well as about a poster raised during a rally in Vilnius last weekend.

The maximum penalty for incitement against any national, racial, ethnic, religious or other group of persons is imprisonment of up to three years.

Under Lithuania's Criminal Code, a threat to kill or do grievous bodily harm is punished by public works, a fine or by restriction of liberty or by arrest or by a custodial sentence for a term of up to two years.