For writing a comment against homosexuals on a social network, the husband will be deprived of his liberty for 6 months. The convict will also have to get a job or continue to register with the Employment Service.
A pre-trial investigation organized by the prosecutors of the First Prosecution Division of the Šiauliai Regional Prosecutor’s Office collected data that in June 2019, after the Baltic Pride Festival marches in Lithuania, people expressed public dissatisfaction with people of homosexual orientation.
The court found that on a social network „Facebook“ the comments posted in the comments section of the video released from the said march publicly despised and incited hatred against homosexuals because of their sexual orientation. One of them was written by a convicted Šiauliai resident who was allegedly angry with homosexual people.
During the pre-trial investigation, the specialist, having carried out the assigned task, found that the man had written a comment in which he expressed the position that homosexuals participating in the march should be exterminated and that such actions would not be sufficient. According to the specialist, the comment is contemptuous of homosexuals and promotes the idea of violence against those individuals.
Due to a similar situation, another pre-trial investigation was carried out at the Šiauliai Regional Prosecutor’s Office, in which allegations were made against a 37-year-old resident of Radviliškis district who also posted a hate speech under the same video.
It was found that the man publicly despised homosexuals for their sexual orientation and publicly incited violence and physical coping with homosexuals. A resident of Radviliškis district admitted his guilt, sincerely regretted him and was released from criminal liability under bail.
Prosecutor Saulius Kulikauskas, who led the pre-trial investigation, draws attention to the habit of writing negative comments on social networks: “When writing comments in cyberspace, a person should not forget that his or her thoughts are seen by everyone. If communication culture exists in real life, it should be respected in virtual life as well. ”
These pre-trial investigations are separate from the main criminal case, which investigates 9 other similar crimes allegedly committed by individuals.
–
It is strictly forbidden to use the information published by DELFI on other websites, in the media or elsewhere, or to distribute our material in any form without consent, and if consent has been obtained, it is necessary to cite DELFI as the source.
