According to the Customs Service of Belarus, the deceased man was detained on December 31, 2023 at the border crossing “Beniakoni”. He was accused of illegal transportation of ammunition across the border and was detained in the pre-trial detention center. Today it became known that he passed away.
The Border Service published photos of the man’s car, as well as photos of two boxes of bullets of 9 mm caliber. A criminal case was opened against the man and he was put in custody.
Charge d’Affaires of Belarus was summoned to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, where he was handed a note of protest. According to the Lithuanian side, consular officials were not informed about the detention of the Lithuanian citizen, as well as about his health condition, so they couldn’t visit him in the detention center. Such actions, according to Vilnius, the Belarusian authorities grossly violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
The Lithuanian side does not rule out that the death could have occurred because the detainee could be in captivity “without the necessary medical care.”
Lithuania expressed a “strong protest” and demanded that all information about the circumstances of the death be provided immediately.
