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Thursday, April 25, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

US Won’t Step In to Stop Ex-Lithuanian Judge’s Extradition

The State Department won't intervene to halt the extradition of an ex-Lithuanian judge and parliamentarian wanted on charges stemming from her claim of a powerful pedophile network in Lithuania.

By MICHAEL TARM

CHICAGO (AP) — The State Department won't intervene to halt the extradition of an ex-Lithuanian judge and parliamentarian wanted on charges stemming from her claim of a powerful pedophile network in Lithuania.

That word came in a Wednesday filing by Neringa Venckiene's (VEHN'-key-ehn-ayz) lawyers. Her attorneys say the 47-year-old could now be extradited at any time and want an urgent stay. She faces charges that include disobeying a court order.

She recently told The Associated Press from jail in Chicago she feared being killed by Lithuanians she angered if extradited.

She became engulfed in a drama that captivated the country. It included alleged vendettas and her election to parliament. She fled to suburban Chicago in 2013, working with legal documents as a florist. U.S. agents arrested her on a Lithuanian warrant in February.

Categories / Courts, Criminal, Government, International, Politics

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