A Lithuanian court denied asylum to a Belarusian suspect in connection with Russian intelligence

The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania confirmed the legality of the decision of the migration service to refuse asylum to Belarusian activist Olga Karach. The Lithuanian Department of State Security suspected her of ties to Russian intelligence. Her residence permit valid until the end of the summer will not be extended.

Karach is the head of the “Nash dom” organization, which provides humanitarian aid to Belarusian and Ukrainian refugees. She has lived in Lithuania for 9 years. In 2021, the KGB of Belarus added her to the list of terrorists, which mainly includes well-known representatives of the opposition to the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. Six months later, the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs declared “Nash dom” an extremist organization. Minsk canceled the activist’s passport, the Belarusian service of Radio Liberty reports.

In August 2023, she reported that Lithuanian counterintelligence called her a threat to national security. He was refused asylum in the country. She appealed the decision, the lower court upheld it.

The appeal was considered by a panel of three judges at a closed session. Their decision is final and not subject to appeal at the national level. Karach announced to the Belarusian Service of the RS that it would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

She says that she does not plan to leave the country and links the suspicions against her to the fact that she met with representatives of the Russian authorities as part of human rights activities. “If I am a threat to national security, why was I not deported from Lithuania? If I am not a threat, why was I not granted political asylum?” she commented on the authorities’ decision.