SERVING JUSTICE IN JANUARY 13TH CASE IS A RESPONSIBILITY OF ALL DEMOCRATIC STATES, THE LETTER OF BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER READS
On 1 August Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis received a letter of Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nickolay Mladenov in which support for Lithuania‘s efforts to achieve justice in the January 13th case was expressed. It was stated in the letter that current EU legal system does not serve this goal.
“The 14 brave men and women who lost their lives in the winter of 1991 shall never be forgotten. Their families, indeed the whole Lithuanian society, have every right to demand that justice be served. And we all, as democratic countries, have the responsibility to ensure that it is served,” the letter reads.Mladenov’s letter is also addressed to Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger, and copies have been sent to the EU foreign ministers and European Commissioner for Justice Viviane Reding.
Mladenov underlined that the decision of Austrian institutions to release the suspect in the January 13th case Mikhail Golovatov brought to the fore “the need to strengthen consultations between the EU Member States on the practice of implementation of the European Arrest Warrant, the applicability of the 1995 Convention on Simplified Extradition Procedures between the EU Member States as well as the 1957 Council of Europe Convention on Extradition”.
“I hope that the working group, established by the Austrian and Lithuanian Ministers of Justice will successfully clarify the circumstances around the arrest and subsequent release of Mikhail Golovatov and do away with all misunderstandings,” the letter of Bulgarian Foreign Minister reads.
Support for Lithuania’s position in Golovatov case was also expressed by Latvia, Estonia, Czech Republic and Poland.
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