Prosecutors' decision to drop the pre-trial investigation against former cadets Antanas Gasparavičius and Darius Saduikis have been confirmed by the 3rd Vilnius District Court, the ministry said in a statement.
"The former cadets have been exempted from criminal liability after the court recognized that their pre-trial actions have become inoffensive following a change in the circumstances," said Captain Arnoldas Ruginis of the War Police of the Lithuanian Army, who carried out the investigations.
The pre-trial investigation into alleged desertion was launched on 7 November. The two cadets were reported missing on October 28 and both returned to Lithuania from abroad on 12-13 November. The cadets underwent psychological examination in hospitals in Kaunas and were dismissed from the Military Academy following their discharge.
The Lithuanian daily Lietuvos Rytas has published letters by the two cadets where they wrote about disorder at the academy, non-statutory behavior, humiliation of weaker and younger cadets. Cadets constantly consume alcohol and play cards, they wrote. They reported the situation to the army's General Inspectorate but it concluded that there had been no violations.
