Lithuanian court frees terrorism suspect

VILNIUS - The Lithuanian Court of Appeals has set free on bail a Lithuanian woman who is accused of plotting to carry out a terrorist attack in Russia.

Egle Kusaite, a 21-year-old Muslim convert, allegedly planned a suicide bombing in revenge for the death of her Chechen friend.

She initially pled guilty to the charges, but later reversed her plea saying Lithuania’s State Security Department set her up.

Judge Viktoras Kazys overturned a late-July ruling that held Kusaitė in detention for another two months. Kazys found that she was not a flight risk.

Prosecutors said they disagree with decision and think they she should still be under house arrest. They will continue to monitor the suspect.

Kusaite was arrested with documents on how to make explosives and information on the underground transport network in Moscow. Prosecutor Justas Laucius claimed Kusaite had links to Chechen terrorist groups and received training in bomb making and funding to help her in that pursuit.

The Baltic News Service reported that the accused had been married to a young Chechen man under Islamic law, but he left her to return home to fight in the resistance and was killed in fighting.