A number of witnesses had previously made references to Gorbachev’s role in the occurred events, while one of the victims who had lost his father in the 1991 events, Robertas Povilaitis, requested to conduct the relevant investigation and assign him a status of the special witness.
Judge Ainora Kornelija Maceviciene of the Vilnius Regional Court told journalists on Monday that anyone who had important information for the case could be questioned as a witness, and Gorbachev was not an exception.
However, Vilnius’ previous attempts to summon the former Soviet leader as a witness in the process of the 1991 events had failed.
Lithuania declared its independence from the Soviet Union on March 11, 1990, though Moscow denounced the move as illegal. In January 1991, a series of unauthorized protests swept across Lithuania after which Soviet troops entered the republic. On the night of January 13, a column of Soviet armored vehicles and tanks rolled into the center of Vilnius. During the clashes between military and civilians near the local TV tower 14 were killed and over 600 injured.
