Vilnius court extends detention of Kyrgyz citizen on trial for terrorism financing

VILNIUS - The Vilnius Regional Court on Wednesday extended the detention of Mukhamad Ali Nurkulov, a Kyrgyz national accused of financing or supporting terrorism, by a further three months.

Nurkulov’s detention term was due to expire on September 21. Consequently, Prosecutor Rimas Juodis asked the court last week to extend his detention for the maximum period of three months.

"The defendant no longer holds a residence permit in Lithuania, so if released, he would have to leave the country immediately. Furthermore, the offense he is charged with carries a mandatory prison sentence," Juodis said.

The prosecutor told BNS that Nurkulov had arrived in Lithuania by plane just as his temporary residence permit was due to expire. He was detained at the airport in March, so he was unable to renew his permit, and it was automatically revoked.

Closing statements were due to be delivered in this case last week, but they had to be postponed when it emerged that some documents had been translated from Russian and Arabic not by a translator - who had been warned of the consequences of providing an inaccurate translation - but by a translation app. It was therefore decided that the translations of the aforementioned documents, which will be carried out in accordance with the law, should be submitted at the next hearing.

Nurkulov is on trial for transferring small sums of money to a Palestinian terrorist organization.

He is accused of providing direct material support to the Al Qassem Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas, while holding a Lithuanian residence permit, with the intention that the funds be used to support terrorist activities.

The defendant maintains, however, that he did not know the Al Qassem Brigades were listed as a terrorist group in the European Union and believed the money would be used for food and other humanitarian aid.

Under Lithuanian law, such an offense is punishable by three to 10 years in prison.