Скриншот видео БелТА
The Vilnius District Court on July 9 rejected a prosecutor’s request to remand Antanas Kandrotas, known as Celofanas, who has fled to Belarus, in custody, Delfi reported, citing Elta.
Prosecutor Indrė Zubavičiūtė asked the court to order Kandrotas’ detention in connection with a public order case. The charges relate to an incident in which Kandrotas allegedly struck public figure Valdas Bartkevičius in a public place. The prosecutor said the suspect had apparently left the country in violation of a travel restriction and had been attending court hearings only remotely. She also noted that, in a separate case, a prison sentence imposed on Kandrotas had already entered into force.
Judge Ilona Mateikienė rejected the request, stating that Kandrotas was not obstructing the proceedings and continued to participate in court hearings.
“He is not obstructing the judicial process, nor is he ignoring it. (…) No one is interfering with the examination of the evidence, and the court sees no need to order detention. (…) Imposing the strictest preventive measure at this stage would be unreasonable,” she said.
The court nevertheless acknowledged that Kandrotas had seriously violated the preventive measure imposed on him by leaving the country without permission.
Last Monday, Kandrotas took part remotely in a hearing in another criminal case.
Antanas Kandrotas has been in Belarus since early May and has repeatedly appeared on Belarusian state propaganda programmes. In June, he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in a financial crimes case. The sentence has entered into force, but it cannot be enforced because the convicted man is no longer in Lithuania. In September 2025, he was also sentenced to four years in prison in a case related to the 2021 riots outside the parliament. That ruling has not yet entered into force.