68-year-old Russian who swam to Lithuania in search of asylum gets six years in prison after being returned home
The Baltic Fleet Military Court in Kaliningrad has sentenced 68-year-old Igor Odintsov to six years in a penal colony on charges of “publicly calling for terrorism.” In September, he tried to avoid a prison term in Russia by swimming across the Neman River and seeking asylum in Lithuania. Lithuanian border guards detained Odintsov and returned him to Russia. A news release on the court’s website…
On September 18th, a 68-year-old Russian man named Igor Odintsov swam across the Neman River into Lithuania in an attempt to seek asylum. Border guards in Lithuania detained Odintsov and returned him to Russia four days later. Odintsov was sentenced to six years in a penal colony on October 1st for "publicly calling for terrorism" under Part 2 of Article 205.2 of Russia's Criminal Code.
The case was initially dismissed in mid-September after Odintsov fled, but proceedings resumed on October 1st. Lithuanian border guards stated that Odintsov did not pose any danger or have any special status, and he did not fall into the category of vulnerable persons, so he was not admitted. Odintsov, a resident of Neman, a town near the Russian-Lithuanian border, was sentenced under the name "O" by the Baltic Fleet Military Court in Kaliningrad.
Local officials expressed disappointment in Lithuania's decision to return Odintsov, calling it "disgraceful" and "criminal."
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