The court said Mel had asked the court to annul the decision by Vilnius Correction House and the Prison Department to reject his request to be transferred to the local area where former state officials serve their sentences.
According to Mel, he's a former army officer, a foreigner and a former official of the state tax inspectorate, and his transfer from Vilnius Correction House' general zone to the local zone would let avoid risks related to his health and life.
"Having heard the administrative case, the judicial panel came to the conclusion that there's no legal basis to annual the appealed decisions by Vilnius Correction House and the Prison department as these decisions and lawful and founded and taken after all significant factual circumstances were taken into account," the court ruling reads.
The court also pointed out Mel failed to provide any evidence he was a state official of Lithuania, therefore, therefore, the institutions that heard his complaint justly concluded that he cannot be deemed a state official.
Mel, a former Soviet officer who served in Vilnius during the January 13, 1991 events, was detained at Panemune border checkpoint on the Lithuanian-Russian border on March 12, 2014.
He admited to having been in one of the tanks that stormed the Vilnius TV tower in the early hours of Jan. 13, 1991 ant that three shots were fired from the tank following a commanders order.
Earlier this year, Mel was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Some 14 people were killed during an attempt by the Soviet army and special forces to take over the Vilnius TV Tower on January 13, 1991, and more than 1,000 unarmed civilians were injured.