[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1107 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1107

   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

                            February 7, 2019

   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.

    Congress finds the following:
            (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 her 
        mother and 2 associates of her mother, an assistant to the 
        Speaker of the Parliament and a sitting judge.
            (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) The prosecutors in the case were fired because, 
        according to the court, their negligence in the investigation 
        and overt coordination with one of the suspects resulted in 
        possible lost evidence and created ``circumstances for the 
        suspects to avoid criminal liability''.
            (7) The Child's Rights Ombudsman was fired.
            (8) The then Attorney General of Lithaunia, Algimantas 
        Valantinas, as well as multiple prosecutors, were forced to 
        resign.
            (9) After Deimante Kedyte's father went missing in 2009, 
        Judge Venckiene was awarded guardianship of Deimante.
            (10) 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.
            (11) 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.
            (12) Hundreds of Lithuanians kept vigil outside Judge 
        Venckiene's house to prevent the Lithuanian Government from 
        removing Deimante Kedyte.
            (13) In May 2012, the Lithuanian Government sent more than 
        200 police officers to take Deimante Kedyte from Judge 
        Venckiene by force.
            (14) 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\1/2\ years.
            (15) 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.
            (16) 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.
            (17) ``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.
            (18) 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.
            (19) 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, other members of her 
        new political party, 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.
            (20) 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 accused mother when the accused mother tried to 
        remove Deimante.
            (21) 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 Lithuania's political motivation.
            (22) 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 violently being taken from Judge Venckiene's 
        home and returned to the accused mother.
            (23) In October 2017, Lithuanian prosecutor in the case, D. 
        Jakutis, explained to news outlet Lietuvos Rytas that political 
        charges were intentionally removed from the extradition request 
        so that the request would not be rejected by United States 
        authorities. He also noted that if Judge Venckiene is returned 
        to Lithuania, new charges related to the old case could be 
        added.
            (24) Former political prisoners, current and former 
        government officials in Lithuania, as well as other prominent 
        members of society in Lithuania, have written to the United 
        States Government, warning that the Lithuanian Government's 
        charges against Judge Venckiene are politically motivated.
            (25) 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''.
            (26) Finland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Israel, 
        Germany, Austria, Malta, Ukraine, and Russia have all refused 
        to extradite individuals to Lithuania.
            (27) 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 AND 
              THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA; EFFECT OF APPLICATION FOR 
              ASYLUM.

    (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.
                                 <all>