V 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Give Judge Venckiene 

5 Her Day in Court Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Judge Neringa Venckiene fled to the United 

2 States in 2013 and requested political asylum after 

3 a 5-year battle in Lithuania to secure justice for her 

4 4-year-old niece, Deimante Kedyte, who reported 

5 that she was being sexually molested by Lithuanian 

6 government officials while in her mother’s care. 

7 (2) Deimante Kedyte’s claims of sexual moles8 tation were evaluated by court-ordered psychologists 

9 and psychiatrists and deemed to be credible. 

10 (3) Deimante Kedyte accused of sexual molesta11 tion her mother and 2 associates of her mother, an 

12 assistant to the Speaker of the Parliament and a sit13 ting judge. 

14 (4) Judge Venckiene and Deimante Kedyte’s fa15 ther petitioned law enforcement and the courts for 

16 full investigation of Deimante’s claims against the 

17 accused individuals, but believed the ensuing inves18 tigation to be negligent. 

19 (5) Lithuania’s parliament (Legal and Judici20 ary Committees) issued a report in 2010 that 

21 deemed the investigation into Deimante Kedyte’s 

22 sexual molestation accusations to be negligent and 

23 found that the negligence had compromised the case 

24 against the public officials. 


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1 (6) The prosecutors in the case were fired be2 cause, according to the court, their negligence in the 

3 investigation and overt coordination with one of the 

4 suspects resulted in possible lost evidence and cre5 ated ‘‘circumstances for the suspects to avoid crimi6 nal liability’’. 

7 (7) The Child’s Rights Ombudsman was fired. 

8 (8) The then Attorney General of Lithaunia, 

9 Algimantas Valantinas, as well as multiple prosecu10 tors, were forced to resign. 

11 (9) After Deimante Kedyte’s father went miss12 ing in 2009, Judge Venckiene was awarded guard13 ianship of Deimante. 

14 (10) Deimante Kedyte’s mother was never in15 dicted for complicity in the sexual molestation de16 spite a Vilnius District Court Ruling in October 

17 2009 that there was enough evidence to indict her. 

18 (11) In December 2011, Judge Venckiene was 

19 ordered to give Deimante Kedyte, then 7 years old, 

20 back to her mother, but Deimante refused to return 

21 to her mother, indicating fear of sexual molestation. 

22 (12) Hundreds of Lithuanians kept vigil outside 

23 Judge Venckiene’s house to prevent the Lithuanian 

24 Government from removing Deimante Kedyte. 


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1 (13) In May 2012, the Lithuanian Government 

2 sent more than 200 police officers to take Deimante 

3 Kedyte from Judge Venckiene by force. 

4 (14) Deimante Kedyte clung to Judge 

5 Venckiene, was ripped from her, was carried away 

6 shrieking, and has completely disappeared from public view for the last 61 7 ⁄2 years. 

8 (15) The Lithuanian Government’s action re9 sulted in protests against the Lithuanian Govern10 ment in Lithuania and at numerous Lithuanian em11 bassies around the world, as well as in the United 

12 States when the Lithuanian President attended the 

13 NATO summit in Chicago in May 2012. 

14 (16) Judge Venckiene published a book entitled 

15 ‘‘Way of Courage’’ in 2012 about Deimante 

16 Kedyte’s ordeal and Lithuania’s failure to properly 

17 investigate and prosecute the case against the gov18 ernment officials. 

19 (17) ‘‘Way of Courage’’ became the name of a 

20 new, anti-corruption, anti-pedophilia political party 

21 in Lithuania, which elected Judge Venckiene to 

22 Lithuania’s parliament in 2012. 

23 (18) Judge Venckiene sought political asylum in 

24 the United States in 2013 after she received threats 

25 and experienced what she believed was an attempt 


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1 on her life following a political rally, and after the 

2 Lithuanian Government moved to lift Judge 

3 Venckiene’s parliamentary immunity. 

4 (19) The Lithuanian Government has system5 atically prosecuted for ‘‘false statements’’ and other 

6 crimes the journalists, a medical professional, 

7 Deimante Kedyte’s grandparents, Judge Venckiene’s 

8 neighbor, other members of her new political party, 

9 people who attended rallies on her behalf, and many 

10 others who came forward with evidence or support of 

11 Deimante Kedyte’s claims of sexual molestation or 

12 who opposed the violent removal of Deimante from 

13 Judge Venckiene. 

14 (20) Lithuania has leveled more than 35 

15 charges against Judge Venckiene, including charges 

16 for filing petitions on behalf of Deimante Kedyte 

17 with Lithuania’s courts and the Child’s Rights Om18 budsman, making statements critical of the inves19 tigation to journalists, describing in her book the 

20 sexual molestation case against and naming the pub21 lic officials, involvement in ‘‘unauthorized protests’’, 

22 ‘‘humiliating the court’’, desecrating the national an23 them, conducting her own investigation into the 

24 case, failing to turn Deimante over to the accused 

25 mother, bruising an officer, and kicking at 


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1 Deimante’s accused mother when the accused moth2 er tried to remove Deimante. 

3 (21) The extradition treaty signed by the 

4 United States and the Republic of Lithuania on Oc5 tober 23, 2001, does not permit for Judge Venckiene 

6 to offer counter-evidence in United States court to 

7 any of Lithuania’s charges against her or to make 

8 the case for Lithuania’s political motivation. 

9 (22) A United States Magistrate Judge in April 

10 2018 approved extradition for charges that Judge 

11 Venckiene hindered the activities of a bailiff, failed 

12 to comply with a court’s decision not associated with 

13 a penalty, caused physical pain, and resisted against 

14 a civil servant or a person performing the functions 

15 of public administration—all charges related to 

16 Deimante Kedyte violently being taken from Judge 

17 Venckiene’s home and returned to the accused moth18 er. 

19 (23) In October 2017, Lithuanian prosecutor in 

20 the case, D. Jakutis, explained to news outlet 

21 Lietuvos Rytas that political charges were inten22 tionally removed from the extradition request so that 

23 the request would not be rejected by United States 

24 authorities. He also noted that if Judge Venckiene 


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1 is returned to Lithuania, new charges related to the 

2 old case could be added. 

3 (24) Former political prisoners, current and 

4 former government officials in Lithuania, as well as 

5 other prominent members of society in Lithuania, 

6 have written to the United States Government, 

7 warning that the Lithuanian Government’s charges 

8 against Judge Venckiene are politically motivated. 

9 (25) The Chairman of the Supreme Court of 

10 Lithuania Gintaras Kryzevicius has been reported as 

11 publicly saying that Judge Venckiene ‘‘is an abscess 

12 in the legal system and an abscess in the political 

13 system’’ and ‘‘the trouble of the whole state’’. 

14 (26) Finland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Den15 mark, Israel, Germany, Austria, Malta, Ukraine, 

16 and Russia have all refused to extradite individuals 

17 to Lithuania. 

18 (27) Judge Venckiene can present evidence con19 cerning the political motivation of Lithuania’s 

20 charges against her before an immigration judge if 

21 she is excluded from the extradition treaty and al22 lowed to proceed with her political asylum case, filed 

23 in 2013 and scheduled to be heard in July 2019. 


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1 SEC. 3. EXCLUSION FROM EXTRADITION TREATY BETWEEN 

2 THE UNITED STATES AND THE REPUBLIC OF 

3 LITHUANIA; EFFECT OF APPLICATION FOR 

4 ASYLUM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi6 sion of law, Judge Neringa Venckiene shall be excluded 

7 from extradition under the Extradition Treaty Between 

8 the Government of the United States of America and the 

9 Government of the Republic of Lithuania, signed at 

10 Vilnius on October 23, 2001, and entered into force on 

11 March 31, 2003 (as amended by the Protocol on the Appli12 cation of the Agreement on Extradition between the 

13 United States of America and the European Union to the 

14 Extradition Treaty between the Government of the United 

15 States of America and the Government of the Republic 

16 of Lithuania, signed at Brussels on June 15, 2005, and 

17 entered into force on February 1, 2010), and excluded 

18 from all other laws allowing for her extradition to Lith19 uania. 

20 (b) POLITICAL ASYLUM.—Judge Neringa Venckiene 

21 shall be permitted to remain in the United States until 

22 a final order is issued with respect to her pending applica23 tion for asylum. 

24 (c) FREE MOVEMENT.—Judge Neringa Venckiene 

25 shall not be held in Federal or State prison or detention 

26 for any immigration-related or extradition-related offense 


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1 and shall be allowed free movement and continued work 

2 permission until a final order is issued with respect to her 

3 pending application for asylum. 

Æ 


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