The
Coup of the Volunteers
(
Lithuanian
:
Pakaun?s savanori? mai?tas
) was a stand-off that occurred in summer 1993 in
Lithuania
near
Kaunas
between a group of about 150 men from the
Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces
(then known as
Savanori?koji kra?to apsaugos tarnyba
or SKAT) and the Lithuanian government. There was mutual distrust between SKAT and the newly elected leftist
Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania
(LDDP). Several SKAT members (usually referred to as volunteers) abandoned their posts, took their arms, and retreated to a wooded area near
Kaunas
in July and August 1993. The crisis escalated when the government issued an order for the volunteers to secure their weapons at designated locations in September. Interpreting the order as confiscation of their weapons, a total of about 150 armed men gathered near
Riogli?kiai
[
lt
]
. They expressed their mistrust and dissatisfaction with the new LDDP government and raised social and political demands. After a week long negotiations, the men agreed to return to their posts if no one would be persecuted for their role in the coup.
Although it concluded peacefully, the stand-off is one of the most controversial and little understood episodes in the early years of post-Soviet Lithuania. Sociologist
Zenonas Norkus
[
lt
]
evaluated the events as a "stress test" of the Lithuanian democracy and the new relationship between the anti-communist and ex-communist elites. The anti-communists, which were now in opposition, did not use the opportunity to return to power.
[1]
The stand-off was followed by two related and unsolved bombings of the
Bra?uol? railway bridge
in November 1994 (no casualties) and of a passenger car in January 1997 (SKAT officer Juras Abromavi?ius was killed). The events remain controversial and subject to numerous theories and conspiracies. The political right accuses Russian secret services, while the political left points to the conservatives.
[2]
Background
[
edit
]
Lithuania declared independence
from the
Soviet Union
on 11 March 1990. At that time, the Soviet
Red Army
was in full control of Lithuania and Lithuanians started organizing informal paramilitary volunteer groups to protect and defend the new government. The Soviet Union responded to the declaration of independence by imposing an economic blockade and later by using military force
in the events of January 1991
. The volunteers as well as unarmed civilians played an important role in defending institutions of the Lithuanian government. The
Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces
(SKAT) was officially established on 17 January 1991, a few days after the January events.
In October?November 1992, the
Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania
(LDDP), the former
Communist Party of Lithuania
, won a majority in the
country's first post-independence elections
. At the time,
Lithuania's regular military
was still very weak and Russian troops were still stationed in the country. The volunteers were seen as disloyal to the new leftist government. One of the versions of the events blames LDDP and its policies ? distrusting SKAT, the new government reduced its funding, did not provide uniforms, ordered to surrender weapons (many of which were purchased by the volunteers from personal funds),
[3]
etc. thus provoking the volunteers into action.
[4]
Coup
[
edit
]
On 31 July 1993, SKAT officer Jonas Maskvytis gathered his weapons that he had personally purchased from the retreating Russian Army and left Kaunas to nearby forests. He later explained that he was helping an acquaintance who was defrauded by a group of criminals who trafficked in counterfeit
Deutsche Marks
. Maskvytis fired at a car with the criminals and corrupt police officers.
[3]
Upon learning that he would likely be arrested and that he was dismissed by the
Minister of National Defence
Audrius Butkevi?ius
, Maskvytis decided not to give in and retreat to the forests.
[2]
He was accompanied by three men and soon joined by others. They took over a homestead of professor
Liudvikas La?as
[
lt
]
in
Riogli?kiai
[
lt
]
.
[5]
The crisis escalated after the government issued an order to collect weapons from SKAT units on 14 September. Because Minister Butkevi?ius was away in Turkey, the order was signed by his deputy Gediminas Pulokas.
[6]
While the Russian Army was present in Lithuania, the volunteers kept their weapons so that they could respond almost instantly to a threat. When the last convoy of the Russian troops left Lithuania on 31 August, the government ordered the weapons secured and kept in depots.
[7]
The volunteers protested taking of their weapons and Maskvytis was joined by company commander Alvydas Pangonis and his men on 16 September.
[8]
The men, now numbering about 150, expressed their dissatisfaction with the new LDDP government and President
Algirdas Brazauskas
and raised social and political demands. The men also claimed to have the support of the
Lithuanian Armed Forces
.
[9]
In 2007, Brazauskas publicly claimed that the volunteers planned his assassination
[10]
and wrote in his memoirs that some of the demands were typed on
Seimas
computers and sent via Seimas fax machines.
[11]
The government first responded on 17 September with an order from the Armed Forces Staff to surrender the weapons or face consequences for anti-government actions.
[11]
The coup took place during the withdrawal of Russian troops from Lithuania and the visit of
Pope John Paul II
on 4?8 September (one of the volunteers fired in the air during the pope's public appearance in Kaunas).
[9]
Comparisons were also drawn with the unsuccessful attempt to disarm mutinous paramilitary forces by President
Abulfaz Elchibey
of
Azerbaijan
in June 1993.
[9]
The government decided to seek a peaceful resolution and negotiated with the volunteers. The agreement was reached on 22 September when a special parliamentary commission led by
Nikolajus Medvedevas
[
lt
]
visited the camp and promised not to prosecute any of the volunteers for their role in the coup. The government reserved the right to prosecute volunteers who had otherwise committed criminal acts.
[2]
When the volunteers returned to Kaunas, they captured the SKAT headquarters in Kaunas and disarmed commander Juras Abromavi?ius, who retreated to the
Seventh Fort
of
Kaunas Fortress
.
[8]
Abromavi?ius then alerted his superiors, newly appointed SKAT commander
Arvydas Pocius
, via the
M-1 radio station
and
Lithuanian National Radio and Television
, but reportedly was ordered not to escalate the situation.
[8]
The men were found in violation of the SKAT statute and faced disciplinary actions, including removal from offices and reshuffling of SKAT leadership.
[9]
Minister of Defense Butkevi?ius resigned and was replaced by
Linas Antanas Linkevi?ius
on 22 October 1993 (with the effective date of 28 October).
[11]
Legal proceedings
[
edit
]
On 30 October 1993, the volunteers shot and killed a 16-year old ?aneta Sadauskait? who lived nearby and became friendly with the men.
[5]
There is no definite version of her death, but likely she was shot in the forehead by accident (one version claims that the men put a tin on her head and used it as a target practice). Haroldas "Haris" Valaitis confessed to the murder, but was acquitted of the murder charges as the judge believed he confessed to protect others because he had a history of mental illness and likely would not serve time in jail as he most likely would be transferred to a psychiatric hospital. No others were charged in Sadauskait?'s death.
[5]
Maskvytis and another officer were tried for their pre-coup activities (taking actions that exceeded their official duties) and received a two-year
suspended sentence
in December 1994.
[11]
In October 2000, Maskvytis was sentenced to four years in prison for the possession and trafficking of illegal weapons, explosive materials, and ammunition.
[2]
During the search of Maskvytis' home, the police found seven grenades,
AK-47
,
Luger pistol
, hunting riffle IZH, etc.
[12]
Related incidents
[
edit
]
The coup was followed by several controversial high-profile crimes that remain unsolved. On 6 November 1994, the
Bra?uol? bridge bombing
damaged a bridge over the
Bra?uol? River
[
lt
]
on the
Vilnius?Kaunas Railway
, but train derailment and casualties were avoided due to lucky coincidence.
[13]
The prosecutor's office investigated 12 different scenarios for the explosion but stopped the pre-trial investigation in 2012 due to the expired
statute of limitations
.
[9]
A report of the investigation published in 2015 claimed that the bombing was related to an attempt to disrupt Russian military transport to the
Kaliningrad Oblast
and send a message of support to
Chechnya
in its
armed struggle for independence from Russia
.
[14]
Juras Abromavi?ius, officer of SKAT and
State Security Department of Lithuania
(VSD), who was investigating the coup of 1993 and explosion of 1994 was assassinated on 31 January 1997 when a homemade
RDX
bomb detonated under his car. In 2006, the prosecutor's office announced that it closed Abromavi?ius's case. They managed to identify Vladas Grybauskas as the bomb maker but he committed suicide on 10 December 1997.
[15]
The
statute of limitations
for the murder of Abromavi?ius expired in 2017.
[9]
These cases were followed by a string of deaths ruled as suicides: volunteers Remigijus Kur?as fell from a third floor, Irmantas Ruplys, Edmundas Simanavi?ius, and Remigijus Kazokaitis shot themselves. Kornelijus Rudauskas drowned in summer 1997.
[3]
Responsibility
[
edit
]
There are many theories and conspiracies surrounding the events. Already during the crisis, politicians expressed views that it was not an action of a few disgruntled officers, but a premeditated political provocation.
[11]
In general, the two most popular versions blame either the Russian
Federal Security Service
or Lithuanian ultra-conservatives.
[8]
For example, former Prime Minister
Gediminas Kirkilas
once said that the coup was useful to Russia as it could demonstrate that as soon as the Russian Army left Lithuania, the country experienced internal unrest.
[4]
During an interview on 20 September 1993,
Vytautas Landsbergis
, leader of the conservative
Homeland Union
, expressed fears that the incident could be used as a pretext for the Russian Army to return but at the same time defended SKAT as a necessary institution for the national defense.
[11]
The political left accuse the conservatives, primarily the Homeland Union. A parliamentary commission set up in 2007 to investigate Abromavi?ius' murder concluded that the murder was carried out by a terrorist-like group that maintained contacts with current and former leaders of the Homeland Union,
Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party
, and
Lithuanian Democratic Party
.
[13]
In 2018,
Audrius Butkevi?ius
and
Zigmas Vai?vila
publicly and explicitly accused Landsbergis of sponsoring terrorist activities related to the coup and the two bombings.
[16]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Norkus, Zenonas (2011).
"Lietuvos politin? raida: antrojo pokomunistinio de?imtme?io lyginamoji analiz?"
.
Politologija
(in Lithuanian).
4
(64): 10.
ISSN
1392-1681
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Vireli?nait?, Lauryna (31 July 2013).
"Dvide?imt met? po Jono Maskvy?io organizuoto Pakaun?s savanori? mai?to: atsakym? ? svarbius klausimus vis dar n?ra"
(in Lithuanian).
15min.lt
. Retrieved
4 May
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
Jan?ys, Art?ras (15?21 May 2000).
"?mogus su ?autuvu"
.
Ekstra
(in Lithuanian).
18
(81). Archived from
the original
on 3 February 2006.
- ^
a
b
Sabatauskas, Andrius (20 January 2004).
"Sausio 17-oji - Kra?to apsaugos savanori? paj?g? gimtadienis"
(in Lithuanian). Slaptai. Archived from
the original
on 8 September 2006
. Retrieved
4 May
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
Lukas, Dainoras (30 January 2007).
"Mi?ko heroj? nuvainikavimas"
(in Lithuanian). Kauno diena
. Retrieved
4 May
2019
.
- ^
Visockas, Gintaras (16 May 2007).
"Savanori? ?mai?tas": atsitiktinumas ar provokacija"
.
Slaptieji takai. XXI am?ius
(in Lithuanian).
1
. Retrieved
10 May
2019
.
- ^
Digryt?, Egl? (16 January 2007).
"A.Butkevi?ius: savanori? mai?tas - inspiruotas politik?"
(in Lithuanian).
Delfi.lt
. Retrieved
4 May
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Jan?ys, Art?ras (16 September 2013).
"Pakaun?s mai?tininkui paslaptys neduoda ramyb?s ir po 20 met?"
(in Lithuanian).
Lietuvos rytas
. Retrieved
4 May
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Stani?auskas, Gediminas (14 January 2004).
"Savanori? mai?to ?e??lis"
(in Lithuanian). Kauno diena
. Retrieved
4 May
2019
.
- ^
LRT (26 January 2007).
"A.Brazauskas: man buvo ruo?iama kulka"
(in Lithuanian).
Delfi.lt
. Retrieved
4 May
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Ka?auskien?, Vanda (2007).
Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausyb?s, 1990?2007: j? kaita ir veiklos bruo?ai
(in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Gair?s. pp. 276?279.
ISBN
978-9955-759-07-2
.
- ^
BNS (3 April 2000).
"J.Maskvytis u? grot? liks dar tris m?nesius"
(in Lithuanian).
Delfi.lt
. Retrieved
4 May
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Chadasevi?ius, Saulius (6 November 2014).
"20 met? po teroro akto: Bra?uol?s gele?inkelio tilto sprogdintojai ?inomi, bet nenuteisti"
(in Lithuanian).
15min.lt
. Retrieved
4 May
2019
.
- ^
"Tilto per Bra?uol? susprogdinimas ? ?inia Rusijai"
(in Lithuanian). Kar?tas komentaras. 6 July 2015
. Retrieved
11 May
2019
.
- ^
Sinkevi?ius, Dainius (20 September 2006).
"Saugumie?io nu?udymas liko paslaptimi"
(in Lithuanian).
Lietuvos ?inios
. Retrieved
4 May
2019
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Respublika (21 March 2018).
"Signatarai kreip?si ? prokurorus d?l V. Landsbergio nusikaltim?"
(in Lithuanian). Vakar? ekspresas
. Retrieved
4 May
2019
.
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