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Lithuania jails Soviet defense minister for 1991 crackdown
Most defendants were not in Court but in Russia
27 March, 15:21
(ANSA-AP) - VILNIUS, MARCH 27 - A Lithuanian court has found
the Soviet Union's last defense minister guilty of war crimes
for his r ole in a violent crackdown on the Baltic country's
independence move 28 years ago.
The Vilnius Regional Court on Wednesday sentenced 94-year-old
Dmitry Yazov in absentia to 10 years in prison. He and 66 other
Soviet-era officials were on trial for the violence that left 14
people dead and hundreds injured when Soviet troops stormed a
television tower and an adjacent building in Vilnius on Jan. 13,
1991.
The trial began in 2016. Only two defendants were present in
court with most of the others being in Russia, which has refused
to hand them over. Those present have pleaded not guilty.
(ANSA-AP).
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