Лауринас Рагелськис. Скриншот видео
The Vilnius District Court has found Laurynas Ragelskis guilty of inciting hatred against Jews and Belarusians and of desecrating a place of public commemoration, LRT reports. He was sentenced to one year and nine months of restricted freedom, a fine of 12,500 euros, and 100 hours of compulsory community service in institutions caring for elderly people and persons with disabilities.
During the term of his sentence, Ragelskis is prohibited from using social media or publishing any content on the internet. Judge Miroslavas Gvozdovichius did not rule out the involvement of IT specialists to monitor compliance with the ban.
The convicted man did not appear in court for the announcement of the verdict.
In October and December 2020, Ragelskis published videos on the YouTube channel “Lithuanian Tells The Truth!” filmed near the Embassy of Belarus in Vilnius. In them he called the Belarusian national flag a “flag of traitors,” insulted participants in protests against the Alyaksandr Lukashenka regime and made antisemitic remarks about the Belarusian opposition. In one of the videos he demonstratively collected flowers, candles and portraits of opponents of the regime who had died from an improvised memorial into a garbage bag and threw them away, calling them “the demonstrative grief of garbage collectors.”
The criminal case was referred to court in 2022, but the proceedings could not begin for a long time. Before the verdict was delivered, 67 court hearings were held — the trial lasted several years. Ragelskis, who speaks Lithuanian fluently, demanded that the case materials be translated into Russian, repeatedly attempted to challenge the judge and prosecutor and filed numerous motions. In his final statement he did not admit guilt.
Ragelskis was also mentioned in an assessment of national security threats by the State Security Department of Lithuania. According to the intelligence service, he coordinates a platform for anti-Western and pro-Russian materials in the Lithuanian language and cooperates with Belarusian propagandists.