Two years ago, Mangirdas and Pijus shared a picture of a kiss on social media to announce that they’ve become a couple. The two young men had no inkling of the events that would unfold following their public confession – to put it into perspective, their case is currently under examination in Strasbourg.

The European Court of Human Rights will determine whether Lithuania violated the European Convention on Human Rights by refusing to investigate the hate speech directed at the couple.

Law enforcement indifferent

When the two men posted their photo on Facebook in 2014, they received not only condemnation, but also threats: "Burn the fag," "Send both to the gas chamber," "You f*cking gays, you need to be f*cking destroyed" and "Kill them!" were all posted in response.

The youths asked the national LGBT * organization, the Lithuanian Gay League (LGL), for help. The League filed a complaint with the Prosecutor General's Office for incitement to hatred.

The prosecutor's office decided not to open an investigation into the matter, and its decision was upheld by a court. In fact, the court not only refused to defend the rights of the two young men, it also accused them of "eccentric behavior."

According to that court:

"The majority of Lithuanians hold traditional family values very close to heart. [...] in this case, someone publishing a picture of two men kissing should have known that such eccentric behavior would not have really contributed to the promotion of mutual understanding and tolerance of people with different opinions in society."

Case goes to ECtHR

LGL appealed the case to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of the two youths, arguing that Lithuania had violated their right to privacy and discriminated against them.

The Strasbourg court accepted the case and, on June 16, asked the Republic of Lithuania to submit its position.

The ECtHR asked the government to clarify whether the decision of a public authority not to launch an investigation into the hateful comments could be seen as a violation of the right to respect for private life and the prohibition of discrimination. The Court was also interested to find out whether the national courts, by accusing Pijus and Mangirdas of "eccentric behavior," did not discriminate against them on the basis of sexual orientation.

"Lithuanian law enforcement agencies have deliberately avoided prosecuting hate crimes against our community for some years now, creating an atmosphere of impunity and contributing to homophobia in Lithuania," said Tomas Vytautas Raskevicius, the LGL lawyer representing the two young men in the European Court of Human Rights.

He claims that a positive outcome in Strasbourg for Pijus and Mangirdas would be a "great incentive to change."

More info is available here.