13 January 1991

On Friday in parliament, Speaker of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen met with freedom defenders and thanked them for safeguarding Lithuania’s independence more than three decades ago.

Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis says a Moscow court’s decision to arrest the three Lithuanian judges who passed verdict in the January 13th case is yet another attempt by the Kremlin to stir up the tensions.

Lithuania's justice minister, its prosecutor general and a judicial official are going to the European Parliament next week to ask for solidarity in protecting Lithuanian judges and prosecutors involved in the January 1991 crackdown case from Russia's persecution.

A Vilnius court on Wednesday heard testimony of witness Valeriy Ivanov, the leader of the pro-Soviet Yedinstvo organization, in the trial over the 13 January 1991 attempted coup.

Surprising revelations about former US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev have emerged in the mass trial of over 60 persons charged for their roles in a bloody crackdown on protesters in Vilnius, Lithuania in January 1991.

Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is sceptical about the possibility of securing Russia's assistance in the January 13 coup case through diplomatic channels.

The lawyers for the defendants in the case surrounding the bloody attempted coup of 13 January 1991 told a Lithuanian court on Monday that their clients would plead not guilty.

Soviet Union's Defence Minister Dmitry Yazov has been named in the so-called January 13 case in Lithuania. He is accused of establishing in late 1990 an organized group of 160 army officers and political figures, aimed at re-incorporating Lithuania into the USSR, according to the indictment drafted ...

Justice will not be achieved in full in the January 13, 1991, attempted coup case without the presence of the former leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, according to Lithuania's first post-independence leader, Vytautas Landsbergis.

Hearings of the Vilnius County Court were interrupted on Wednesday after one of the lawyers fell ill in the courtroom. Ambulance was called to the courthouse and the hearing was adjourned.

On Wednesday, a Vilnius court will open hearings into the case surrounding the 13 January 1991 attempted coup, which is one of the biggest trials in Lithuania's history in terms of the size and the number of suspects.

Algirdas Paleckis, the founder and long-time member of the Socialist People's Front in Lithuania, has cancelled his membership in the organisation and political party he helped create.

On Thursday, Bill Lewis, a sand sculptor based in Santa Cruz, California, shared a photo of a sand sculpture on Facebook that he made to commemorate the events of 13 January, 1991 in Lithuania.

Despite the inclement weather, Lithuanians living in London met at Parsloes park, Dagenham on the morning of Saturday 9th January for a commerorative run to mark the historic events of January 13. The pouring rain did not have any effect on the people or on the joyful atmosphere.

The television tower in Georgian capital Tbilisi was lit in the yellow green and red of the Lithuanian flag on Wednesday evening to honour Lithuanian freedom defenders.

Lithuania's diplomatic consulates abroad invited Lithuanians and friends of Lithuania to honour the 25th anniversary of the January 13, 1991, events on Wednesday.

Western media reacted to the events of January 1991 in Lithuania cautiously at the time. Almost all the foreign media that covered the events of January 13 condemned the Soviet aggression and respected Lithuania's fight for freedom.

Presidents of Georgia, Ukraine and Estonia have congratulated Lithuania on January 13, when the country celebrates the 25th anniversary since it defended its independence from Soviet forces.

Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuania's first post-communist head of state, received an award on Wednesday in recognition of his contribution to the country's freedom. The award was presented by several non-governmental organizations, after the Seimas snubbed Landsbergis for its annual Freedom Prize.