The court determined that the motive for the attack was hatred towards the victim due to his public support for Ukraine.
Ukraine / © Pixabay
In Lithuania, a court sentenced a man to 15 months in prison for assaulting a cyclist who was wearing a T-shirt with pro-Ukrainian inscriptions.
This was reported by the publication LRT.lt.
The Vilnius District Court found Jonas Jakštas, born in 1987, guilty of property damage and causing minor bodily harm.
The verdict was delivered on May 12 and has already entered into force. The court also ordered the man to work or register with an employment center, undergo a program to overcome aggressive behavior, pay compensation to the victim, and reimburse the state health insurance fund for the cyclist’s medical expenses.
The court established that the motive for the attack was hatred towards the victim as a person who publicly supports Ukraine. This circumstance was recognized as an aggravating factor.
According to the case materials, the incident occurred on the evening of March 27, 2025, in the Širvintos district. Jakštas drove his car up to the cyclist and demanded that he remove the T-shirt with Ukrainian symbols.
When the cyclist refused, the man overtook him with his car and sharply turned onto the roadside. Because of this, the cyclist was forced to brake sharply and fell.
After that, the attacker ran up to the victim, again demanded that he remove the T-shirt, and grabbed it himself. When the cyclist tried to make a phone call, Jakštas knocked him down and broke his phone.
Earlier, it was reported that temporary protection for Ukrainians in Lithuania and Latvia is set to end on March 4, 2027. Approximately 47,000 Ukrainians in Lithuania and thousands of Ukrainians in Latvia are living, working, and raising children under the EU’s temporary protection. Automatic extension is not currently foreseen.
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