Give Judge Venckiene Her Day in Court Act

Provides 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.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6257 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6257

   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 27, 2018

 Mr. Hultgren 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.

    The 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 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 Unites 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>