Deputy Minister of Justice received visa, but not allowed entering Lithuania

The Belarusian official who had been blacklisted as person who cannot enter the EU, has not allowed to cross the border by Lithuanian border guards.

Deputy Justice Minister of Belarus Alla Bodak (Ala Bodak), who had been blacklisted among other Belarusian officials who are banned from entering the EU territory, came to the border with Lithuania with a valid Lithuanian visa.

“It was Ala Bodak. She had a visa. A visa had been issued to her in the Embassy (of Lithuania – DELFI) in Minsk. She is unwanted person. Issuing a visa, officials in the Embassy should check everything, and they see perfectly well what we are seeing. The databases are the same,” DELFI was informed by a border guard who did not disclose his name.

As said by him, the visa was annulled by officials of border service, when they saw that Ala Bodak was a non grata person in the EU.

The interlocutor said that the visa had been issued on August 4, o the same day when a human rights activist Ales Byalyatski was detained in Minsk on the grounds of information provided by Lithuania in the framework of legal assistance.

“The visa was issued on August 4, and came in force on August 8, for 7 days,” the officer said.

Minister of the Interior Raimundas Palaitis said at a press-conference on Friday that Ala Bodak was returned to Belarus on August 9, at about 1 p.m. As said by the Minister, she was the only member of the Belarusian delegation with 7 members, who was turned back at the border.

Raimundas Palaitis said that the state border guard service had displayed vigilance.

The delegation travelled in Mercedes-Benz minibus. Deputy minister returned to Belarus on foot, and the minibus came to Lithuania. Palaitis did not know in which way Bodak returned to Minsk.

We remind that Byalyatski was detained in Minsk on August 4. He is charged with tax evasion basin upon information provided by Lithuania.

The Justice Ministry of Lithuania states they would not hold internal investigation of the incident. The ministry admits they received a warning of the Foreign Ministry in June not to help Belarusian agencies, but it was too late, as the Belarusian side received the information in March.

The president of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite stated that after offering information to Belarus Justice Minister Remigijus Simasius should assess work of his subordinates. The president did not demand the minister to be responsible for the incident.

On Thursday it turned out that except Lithuania, Byalyatski’s bank accounts information had been also disclosed to Belarus by Poland and the Czech Republic.