Young woman found guilty of intending to commit terrorist attack in Russia is released in Lithuania

A resident of the city of Klaipeda, Egle Kusayte, found guilty of intending to commit a terrorist attack in Russia, has been released. This decision was made today by the Vilnius Regional Court, RIA News reports.

At the end of October 2009 Lithuanian law enforcement agencies detained Egle Kusayte and charged her under the article of the Criminal Code which pertains to the responsibility for the creation of groups to commit a terrorist act or participate in its activities.

The young woman first admitted her intention to enter the Russian Federation in order to blow herself up in a crowded place in Chechnya, but then denied those statements. Kusayte denied all charges and claimed that the employees of the Department of State Security of Lithuania had provoked her.

The prosecutor Mindaugas Duda suggested convicting Kusayte to 10 years in prison. However, the court found her guilty of intending to commit an attack, although it rejected allegations regarding the creation of an organized group.

Judges Virginia Shvedene, Jurate Damanskene and Arturas Pazharskis felt that a punishment of 10 months' imprisonment was enough. Thus, the court ruled that she had already served her punishment, as she had been detained in custody after her arrest.