A federal judge in Chicago has temporary halted the extradition of an ex-Lithuanian judge and parliamentarian jailed at Lithuania’s request.
The stay in Neringa Venckiene’s case lasts a week until another judge can rule on a longer stay.
The 47-year-old faces charges stemming from her claims of an influential pedophile ring in Lithuania. She won a parliament seat in 2012 campaigning on the issue. She fled Lithuania in 2013, settling in suburban Chicago.
Once a rising Lithuanian judicial star, she entered a Tuesday hearing in orange jail clothes and chained at the ankles. She smiled at her son in court before being led back to jail
Her lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall to delay extradition for a year so Venckiene can finish asking for asylum.
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