Baltic States – CIS, Crime, Latvia, Legislation, Lithuania

The sentence came into force after the Court of Appeal's ruling.

The Prosecutor General's Office had asked the court to reclassify the criminal act committed by Mikhailov from a murder to a crime against humanity, that is, a killing conducted by supporting the policy of a foreign state and organizations of a foreign state and by attacking, killing and injuring civilians in a systematic way and on a large scale.

"The convict was among the persons who performed acts of violence against the eight officers," Judge Aloyzas Kruopys said.

Latvian citizen Mikhailov was detained by Latvian law-enforcement bodies on Nov. 28, 2007 under a European arrest warrant issued by Lithuania. He has been held in detention at Lukiskes Remand Prison in Vilnius since January 2008. It emerged later that Mikhailov also has Russian citizenship.

The Vilnius Regional Court ruled that Mikhailov, being a member of the Soviet Interior Ministry's special police unit OMON and acting as part of a squad organized by Cheslav Mlynik, together with other members of the squad, Andrei Laktionov and Alexander Ryzhov, intentionally killed Lithuanian customs and police officers Antanas Musteikis, Stanislavas Orlavicius, Ricardas Rabavicius, Algirdas Kazlauskas, Juozas Janonis, Algimantas Juozakas and Mindaugas Balavakas, and attempted to kill Tomas Sernas.