[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6218 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6218

   For the relief of Judge Neringa Venckiene, who the Government of 
 Lithuania seeks on charges related to her pursuit of justice against 
  Lithuanian public officials accused of sexually molesting her young 
                                 niece.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 25, 2018

   Mr. Smith of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   For the relief of Judge Neringa Venckiene, who the Government of 
 Lithuania seeks on charges related to her pursuit of justice against 
  Lithuanian public officials accused of sexually molesting her young 
                                 niece.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Give Judge Venckiene Her Day in 
Court Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    (1) Judge Neringa Venckiene fled to the United States in 2013 and 
requested political asylum after a 5-year battle in Lithuania to secure 
justice for her 4-year-old niece, Deimante Kedyte, who reported that 
she was being sexually molested by Lithuanian government officials 
while in her mother's care.
    (2) Deimante Kedyte's claims of sexual molestation were evaluated 
by court-ordered psychologists and psychiatrists and deemed to be 
credible.
    (3) Deimante Kedyte accused of sexual molestation an assistant to 
the Speaker of the Parliament and a sitting judge, both associates of 
her mother.
    (4) Judge Venckiene and Deimante Kedyte's father petitioned law 
enforcement and the courts for full investigation of Deimante's claims 
against the accused individuals, but believed the ensuing investigation 
to be negligent.
    (5) Lithuania's parliament (Legal and Judiciary Committees) issued 
a report in 2010 that deemed the investigation into Deimante Kedyte's 
sexual molestation accusations to be negligent and found that the 
negligence had compromised the case against the public officials.
    (6) After Deimante Kedyte's father went missing in 2009, Judge 
Venckiene was awarded guardianship of Deimante.
    (7) Deimante Kedyte's mother was never indicted for complicity in 
the sexual molestation despite a Vilnius District Court Ruling in 
October 2009 that there was enough evidence to indict her.
    (8) In December 2011, Judge Venckiene was ordered to give Deimante 
Kedyte, then 7 years old, back to her mother, but Deimante refused to 
return to her mother, indicating fear of sexual molestation.
    (9) Hundreds of Lithuanians kept vigil outside Judge Venckiene's 
house to prevent the Lithuanian Government from removing Deimante 
Kedyte.
    (10) In May 2012, the Lithuanian Government sent more than 200 
police officers to take Deimante Kedyte from Judge Venckiene by force.
    (11) Deimante Kedyte clung to Judge Venckiene, was ripped from her, 
was carried away shrieking, and has completely disappeared from public 
view for the last 6 years.
    (12) The Lithuanian Government's action resulted in protests 
against the Lithuanian Government in Lithuania and at numerous 
Lithuanian embassies around the world, as well as in the United States 
when the Lithuanian President attended the NATO summit in Chicago in 
May 2012.
    (13) Judge Venckiene published a book entitled ``Way of Courage'' 
in 2012 about Deimante Kedyte's ordeal and Lithuania's failure to 
properly investigate and prosecute the case against the government 
officials.
    (14) ``Way of Courage'' became the name of a new, anti-corruption, 
anti-pedophilia political party in Lithuania, which elected Judge 
Venckiene to Lithuania's parliament in 2012.
    (15) Judge Venckiene sought political asylum in the United States 
in 2013 after she received threats and experienced what she believed 
was an attempt on her life following a political rally, and after the 
Lithuanian Government moved to lift Judge Venckiene's parliamentary 
immunity.
    (16) The Lithuanian Government has systematically prosecuted for 
``false statements'' and other crimes the journalists, a medical 
professional, Deimante Kedyte's grandparents, Judge Venckiene's 
neighbor, people who attended rallies on her behalf, and many others 
who came forward with evidence or support of Deimante Kedyte's claims 
of sexual molestation or who opposed the violent removal of Deimante 
from Judge Venckiene.
    (17) Lithuania has leveled more than 35 charges against Judge 
Venckiene, including charges for filing petitions on behalf of Deimante 
Kedyte with Lithuania's courts and the Child's Rights Ombudsman, making 
statements critical of the investigation to journalists, describing in 
her book the sexual molestation case against and naming the public 
officials, involvement in ``unauthorized protests'', ``humiliating the 
court'', desecrating the national anthem, conducting her own 
investigation into the case, failing to turn Deimante over to the 
accused mother, bruising an officer, and kicking at Deimante's mother 
when the mother tried to remove Deimante.
    (18) The extradition treaty signed by the United States and the 
Republic of Lithuania on October 23, 2001, does not permit for Judge 
Venckiene to offer counter-evidence in United States court to any of 
Lithuania's charges against her or to make the case for political 
motivation.
    (19) A United States Magistrate Judge in April 2018 approved 
extradition for charges that Judge Venckiene hindered the activities of 
a bailiff, failed to comply with a court's decision not associated with 
a penalty, caused physical pain, and resisted against a civil servant 
or a person performing the functions of public administration--all 
charges related to Deimante Kedyte being taken from Judge Venckiene's 
home and returned to the accused mother.
    (20) Former political prisoners, as well as current and former 
government officials in Lithuania have written to the United States 
Government, warning that the Lithuanian Government's charges against 
Judge Venckiene are politically motivated.
    (21) The Chairman of the Supreme Court of Lithuania Gintaras 
Kryzevicius has been reported as publicly saying that Judge Venckiene 
``is an abscess in the legal system and an abscess in the political 
system'' and ``the trouble of the whole state''.
    (22) Sweden, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Malta, Ukraine, 
and Russia have all refused to extradite individuals to Lithuania.
    (23) Judge Venckiene can present evidence concerning the political 
motivation of Lithuania's charges against her before an immigration 
judge if she is excluded from the extradition treaty and allowed to 
proceed with her political asylum case, filed in 2013 and scheduled to 
be heard in July 2019.

SEC. 3. EXCLUSION FROM EXTRADITION TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF 
              AMERICA AND THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Judge 
Neringa Venckiene shall be excluded from extradition under the 
Extradition Treaty Between the Government of the United States of 
America and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, signed at 
Vilnius on October 23, 2001, and entered into force on March 31, 2003 
(as amended by the Protocol on the Application of the Agreement on 
Extradition between the United States of America and the European Union 
to the Extradition Treaty between the Government of the United States 
of America and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, signed at 
Brussels on June 15, 2005, and entered into force on February 1, 2010), 
and excluded from all other laws allowing for her extradition to 
Lithuania.
    (b) Political Asylum.--Judge Neringa Venckiene shall be permitted 
to remain in the United States until a final order is issued with 
respect to her pending application for asylum.
    (c) Free Movement.--Judge Neringa Venckiene shall not be held in 
Federal or State prison or detention for any immigration-related or 
extradition-related offense and shall be allowed free movement and 
continued work permission until a final order is issued with respect to 
her pending application for asylum.
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