[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1107 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1107
For the relief of Judge Neringa Venckiene, who the Government of
Lithuania seeks on charges related to her pursuit of justice against
Lithuanian public officials accused of sexually molesting her young
niece.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 7, 2019
Mr. Smith of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
For the relief of Judge Neringa Venckiene, who the Government of
Lithuania seeks on charges related to her pursuit of justice against
Lithuanian public officials accused of sexually molesting her young
niece.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Give Judge Venckiene Her Day in
Court Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Judge Neringa Venckiene fled to the United States in
2013 and requested political asylum after a 5-year battle in
Lithuania to secure justice for her 4-year-old niece, Deimante
Kedyte, who reported that she was being sexually molested by
Lithuanian government officials while in her mother's care.
(2) Deimante Kedyte's claims of sexual molestation were
evaluated by court-ordered psychologists and psychiatrists and
deemed to be credible.
(3) Deimante Kedyte accused of sexual molestation her
mother and 2 associates of her mother, an assistant to the
Speaker of the Parliament and a sitting judge.
(4) Judge Venckiene and Deimante Kedyte's father petitioned
law enforcement and the courts for full investigation of
Deimante's claims against the accused individuals, but believed
the ensuing investigation to be negligent.
(5) Lithuania's parliament (Legal and Judiciary Committees)
issued a report in 2010 that deemed the investigation into
Deimante Kedyte's sexual molestation accusations to be
negligent and found that the negligence had compromised the
case against the public officials.
(6) The prosecutors in the case were fired because,
according to the court, their negligence in the investigation
and overt coordination with one of the suspects resulted in
possible lost evidence and created ``circumstances for the
suspects to avoid criminal liability''.
(7) The Child's Rights Ombudsman was fired.
(8) The then Attorney General of Lithaunia, Algimantas
Valantinas, as well as multiple prosecutors, were forced to
resign.
(9) After Deimante Kedyte's father went missing in 2009,
Judge Venckiene was awarded guardianship of Deimante.
(10) Deimante Kedyte's mother was never indicted for
complicity in the sexual molestation despite a Vilnius District
Court Ruling in October 2009 that there was enough evidence to
indict her.
(11) In December 2011, Judge Venckiene was ordered to give
Deimante Kedyte, then 7 years old, back to her mother, but
Deimante refused to return to her mother, indicating fear of
sexual molestation.
(12) Hundreds of Lithuanians kept vigil outside Judge
Venckiene's house to prevent the Lithuanian Government from
removing Deimante Kedyte.
(13) In May 2012, the Lithuanian Government sent more than
200 police officers to take Deimante Kedyte from Judge
Venckiene by force.
(14) Deimante Kedyte clung to Judge Venckiene, was ripped
from her, was carried away shrieking, and has completely
disappeared from public view for the last 6\1/2\ years.
(15) The Lithuanian Government's action resulted in
protests against the Lithuanian Government in Lithuania and at
numerous Lithuanian embassies around the world, as well as in
the United States when the Lithuanian President attended the
NATO summit in Chicago in May 2012.
(16) Judge Venckiene published a book entitled ``Way of
Courage'' in 2012 about Deimante Kedyte's ordeal and
Lithuania's failure to properly investigate and prosecute the
case against the government officials.
(17) ``Way of Courage'' became the name of a new, anti-
corruption, anti-pedophilia political party in Lithuania, which
elected Judge Venckiene to Lithuania's parliament in 2012.
(18) Judge Venckiene sought political asylum in the United
States in 2013 after she received threats and experienced what
she believed was an attempt on her life following a political
rally, and after the Lithuanian Government moved to lift Judge
Venckiene's parliamentary immunity.
(19) The Lithuanian Government has systematically
prosecuted for ``false statements'' and other crimes the
journalists, a medical professional, Deimante Kedyte's
grandparents, Judge Venckiene's neighbor, other members of her
new political party, people who attended rallies on her behalf,
and many others who came forward with evidence or support of
Deimante Kedyte's claims of sexual molestation or who opposed
the violent removal of Deimante from Judge Venckiene.
(20) Lithuania has leveled more than 35 charges against
Judge Venckiene, including charges for filing petitions on
behalf of Deimante Kedyte with Lithuania's courts and the
Child's Rights Ombudsman, making statements critical of the
investigation to journalists, describing in her book the sexual
molestation case against and naming the public officials,
involvement in ``unauthorized protests'', ``humiliating the
court'', desecrating the national anthem, conducting her own
investigation into the case, failing to turn Deimante over to
the accused mother, bruising an officer, and kicking at
Deimante's accused mother when the accused mother tried to
remove Deimante.
(21) The extradition treaty signed by the United States and
the Republic of Lithuania on October 23, 2001, does not permit
for Judge Venckiene to offer counter-evidence in United States
court to any of Lithuania's charges against her or to make the
case for Lithuania's political motivation.
(22) A United States Magistrate Judge in April 2018
approved extradition for charges that Judge Venckiene hindered
the activities of a bailiff, failed to comply with a court's
decision not associated with a penalty, caused physical pain,
and resisted against a civil servant or a person performing the
functions of public administration--all charges related to
Deimante Kedyte violently being taken from Judge Venckiene's
home and returned to the accused mother.
(23) In October 2017, Lithuanian prosecutor in the case, D.
Jakutis, explained to news outlet Lietuvos Rytas that political
charges were intentionally removed from the extradition request
so that the request would not be rejected by United States
authorities. He also noted that if Judge Venckiene is returned
to Lithuania, new charges related to the old case could be
added.
(24) Former political prisoners, current and former
government officials in Lithuania, as well as other prominent
members of society in Lithuania, have written to the United
States Government, warning that the Lithuanian Government's
charges against Judge Venckiene are politically motivated.
(25) The Chairman of the Supreme Court of Lithuania
Gintaras Kryzevicius has been reported as publicly saying that
Judge Venckiene ``is an abscess in the legal system and an
abscess in the political system'' and ``the trouble of the
whole state''.
(26) Finland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Israel,
Germany, Austria, Malta, Ukraine, and Russia have all refused
to extradite individuals to Lithuania.
(27) Judge Venckiene can present evidence concerning the
political motivation of Lithuania's charges against her before
an immigration judge if she is excluded from the extradition
treaty and allowed to proceed with her political asylum case,
filed in 2013 and scheduled to be heard in July 2019.
SEC. 3. EXCLUSION FROM EXTRADITION TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND
THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA; EFFECT OF APPLICATION FOR
ASYLUM.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Judge
Neringa Venckiene shall be excluded from extradition under the
Extradition Treaty Between the Government of the United States of
America and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, signed at
Vilnius on October 23, 2001, and entered into force on March 31, 2003
(as amended by the Protocol on the Application of the Agreement on
Extradition between the United States of America and the European Union
to the Extradition Treaty between the Government of the United States
of America and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, signed at
Brussels on June 15, 2005, and entered into force on February 1, 2010),
and excluded from all other laws allowing for her extradition to
Lithuania.
(b) Political Asylum.--Judge Neringa Venckiene shall be permitted
to remain in the United States until a final order is issued with
respect to her pending application for asylum.
(c) Free Movement.--Judge Neringa Venckiene shall not be held in
Federal or State prison or detention for any immigration-related or
extradition-related offense and shall be allowed free movement and
continued work permission until a final order is issued with respect to
her pending application for asylum.
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