Give Judge Venckiene Her Day in Court Act

V 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 Govern- ment of Lithuania seeks on charges related to her pur- suit of justice against Lithuanian public officials accused of sexually molesting her young niece. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Give Judge Venckiene 4 Her Day in Court Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1107.IH H1107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1107 IH (1) Judge Neringa Venckiene fled to the United 1 States in 2013 and requested political asylum after 2 a 5-year battle in Lithuania to secure justice for her 3 4-year-old niece, Deimante Kedyte, who reported 4 that she was being sexually molested by Lithuanian 5 government officials while in her mother’s care. 6 (2) Deimante Kedyte’s claims of sexual moles- 7 tation were evaluated by court-ordered psychologists 8 and psychiatrists and deemed to be credible. 9 (3) Deimante Kedyte accused of sexual molesta- 10 tion her mother and 2 associates of her mother, an 11 assistant to the Speaker of the Parliament and a sit- 12 ting judge. 13 (4) Judge Venckiene and Deimante Kedyte’s fa- 14 ther petitioned law enforcement and the courts for 15 full investigation of Deimante’s claims against the 16 accused individuals, but believed the ensuing inves- 17 tigation to be negligent. 18 (5) Lithuania’s parliament (Legal and Judici- 19 ary Committees) issued a report in 2010 that 20 deemed the investigation into Deimante Kedyte’s 21 sexual molestation accusations to be negligent and 22 found that the negligence had compromised the case 23 against the public officials. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1107.IH H1107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1107 IH (6) The prosecutors in the case were fired be- 1 cause, according to the court, their negligence in the 2 investigation and overt coordination with one of the 3 suspects resulted in possible lost evidence and cre- 4 ated ‘‘circumstances for the suspects to avoid crimi- 5 nal liability’’. 6 (7) The Child’s Rights Ombudsman was fired. 7 (8) The then Attorney General of Lithaunia, 8 Algimantas Valantinas, as well as multiple prosecu- 9 tors, were forced to resign. 10 (9) After Deimante Kedyte’s father went miss- 11 ing in 2009, Judge Venckiene was awarded guard- 12 ianship of Deimante. 13 (10) Deimante Kedyte’s mother was never in- 14 dicted for complicity in the sexual molestation de- 15 spite a Vilnius District Court Ruling in October 16 2009 that there was enough evidence to indict her. 17 (11) In December 2011, Judge Venckiene was 18 ordered to give Deimante Kedyte, then 7 years old, 19 back to her mother, but Deimante refused to return 20 to her mother, indicating fear of sexual molestation. 21 (12) Hundreds of Lithuanians kept vigil outside 22 Judge Venckiene’s house to prevent the Lithuanian 23 Government from removing Deimante Kedyte. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1107.IH H1107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1107 IH (13) In May 2012, the Lithuanian Government 1 sent more than 200 police officers to take Deimante 2 Kedyte from Judge Venckiene by force. 3 (14) Deimante Kedyte clung to Judge 4 Venckiene, was ripped from her, was carried away 5 shrieking, and has completely disappeared from pub- 6 lic view for the last 61⁄2 years. 7 (15) The Lithuanian Government’s action re- 8 sulted in protests against the Lithuanian Govern- 9 ment in Lithuania and at numerous Lithuanian em- 10 bassies around the world, as well as in the United 11 States when the Lithuanian President attended the 12 NATO summit in Chicago in May 2012. 13 (16) Judge Venckiene published a book entitled 14 ‘‘Way of Courage’’ in 2012 about Deimante 15 Kedyte’s ordeal and Lithuania’s failure to properly 16 investigate and prosecute the case against the gov- 17 ernment officials. 18 (17) ‘‘Way of Courage’’ became the name of a 19 new, anti-corruption, anti-pedophilia political party 20 in Lithuania, which elected Judge Venckiene to 21 Lithuania’s parliament in 2012. 22 (18) Judge Venckiene sought political asylum in 23 the United States in 2013 after she received threats 24 and experienced what she believed was an attempt 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1107.IH H1107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1107 IH on her life following a political rally, and after the 1 Lithuanian Government moved to lift Judge 2 Venckiene’s parliamentary immunity. 3 (19) The Lithuanian Government has system- 4 atically prosecuted for ‘‘false statements’’ and other 5 crimes the journalists, a medical professional, 6 Deimante Kedyte’s grandparents, Judge Venckiene’s 7 neighbor, other members of her new political party, 8 people who attended rallies on her behalf, and many 9 others who came forward with evidence or support of 10 Deimante Kedyte’s claims of sexual molestation or 11 who opposed the violent removal of Deimante from 12 Judge Venckiene. 13 (20) Lithuania has leveled more than 35 14 charges against Judge Venckiene, including charges 15 for filing petitions on behalf of Deimante Kedyte 16 with Lithuania’s courts and the Child’s Rights Om- 17 budsman, making statements critical of the inves- 18 tigation to journalists, describing in her book the 19 sexual molestation case against and naming the pub- 20 lic officials, involvement in ‘‘unauthorized protests’’, 21 ‘‘humiliating the court’’, desecrating the national an- 22 them, conducting her own investigation into the 23 case, failing to turn Deimante over to the accused 24 mother, bruising an officer, and kicking at 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1107.IH H1107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1107 IH Deimante’s accused mother when the accused moth- 1 er tried to remove Deimante. 2 (21) The extradition treaty signed by the 3 United States and the Republic of Lithuania on Oc- 4 tober 23, 2001, does not permit for Judge Venckiene 5 to offer counter-evidence in United States court to 6 any of Lithuania’s charges against her or to make 7 the case for Lithuania’s political motivation. 8 (22) A United States Magistrate Judge in April 9 2018 approved extradition for charges that Judge 10 Venckiene hindered the activities of a bailiff, failed 11 to comply with a court’s decision not associated with 12 a penalty, caused physical pain, and resisted against 13 a civil servant or a person performing the functions 14 of public administration—all charges related to 15 Deimante Kedyte violently being taken from Judge 16 Venckiene’s home and returned to the accused moth- 17 er. 18 (23) In October 2017, Lithuanian prosecutor in 19 the case, D. Jakutis, explained to news outlet 20 Lietuvos Rytas that political charges were inten- 21 tionally removed from the extradition request so that 22 the request would not be rejected by United States 23 authorities. He also noted that if Judge Venckiene 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1107.IH H1107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1107 IH is returned to Lithuania, new charges related to the 1 old case could be added. 2 (24) Former political prisoners, current and 3 former government officials in Lithuania, as well as 4 other prominent members of society in Lithuania, 5 have written to the United States Government, 6 warning that the Lithuanian Government’s charges 7 against Judge Venckiene are politically motivated. 8 (25) The Chairman of the Supreme Court of 9 Lithuania Gintaras Kryzevicius has been reported as 10 publicly saying that Judge Venckiene ‘‘is an abscess 11 in the legal system and an abscess in the political 12 system’’ and ‘‘the trouble of the whole state’’. 13 (26) Finland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Den- 14 mark, Israel, Germany, Austria, Malta, Ukraine, 15 and Russia have all refused to extradite individuals 16 to Lithuania. 17 (27) Judge Venckiene can present evidence con- 18 cerning the political motivation of Lithuania’s 19 charges against her before an immigration judge if 20 she is excluded from the extradition treaty and al- 21 lowed to proceed with her political asylum case, filed 22 in 2013 and scheduled to be heard in July 2019. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1107.IH H1107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 1107 IH SEC. 3. EXCLUSION FROM EXTRADITION TREATY BETWEEN 1 THE UNITED STATES AND THE REPUBLIC OF 2 LITHUANIA; EFFECT OF APPLICATION FOR 3 ASYLUM. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 5 sion of law, Judge Neringa Venckiene shall be excluded 6 from extradition under the Extradition Treaty Between 7 the Government of the United States of America and the 8 Government of the Republic of Lithuania, signed at 9 Vilnius on October 23, 2001, and entered into force on 10 March 31, 2003 (as amended by the Protocol on the Appli- 11 cation of the Agreement on Extradition between the 12 United States of America and the European Union to the 13 Extradition Treaty between the Government of the United 14 States of America and the Government of the Republic 15 of Lithuania, signed at Brussels on June 15, 2005, and 16 entered into force on February 1, 2010), and excluded 17 from all other laws allowing for her extradition to Lith- 18 uania. 19 (b) POLITICAL ASYLUM.—Judge Neringa Venckiene 20 shall be permitted to remain in the United States until 21 a final order is issued with respect to her pending applica- 22 tion for asylum. 23 (c) FREE MOVEMENT.—Judge Neringa Venckiene 24 shall not be held in Federal or State prison or detention 25 for any immigration-related or extradition-related offense 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1107.IH H1107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 1107 IH and shall be allowed free movement and continued work 1 permission until a final order is issued with respect to her 2 pending application for asylum. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1107.IH H1107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS