For more than 7 years, Dainius Okuličius, a Panevėžys resident who has been wanted by Lithuanian police worldwide for allegedly committing serious crimes, has found refuge in southern Spain. His father, who resisted and shot four bandits who were extorting him in Panevėžys in 1996, has found refuge in southern Spain. In an exclusive interview with Delfi.lt journalist Dainius Sinkevičius, he told how his family lived after the massacre at the Svainija store that shocked Lithuania and why he decided to hide from law enforcement. “It was really a big challenge to bear the Okuličius surname in Panevėžys – although 27 years have passed since 1996, that story will somehow follow us all our lives,” admitted 41-year-old D. Okuličius. He spoke about an exceptional evening that shook the whole of Lithuania – at that time Panevėžys was not controlled by the local police, but by figures from the criminal world, to whom almost all businessmen were obliged to pay tribute, and the bandits also demanded money from D. Okuličius’ father, Rimantas Okuličius. On Christmas Eve, criminals came to the Svainija store he owned armed – the businessman decided to resist them and, drawing his gun, shot four racketeers and wounded four more. “If it weren’t for me, they would have shot me,” the businessman has said. After these massacres, Lithuania was divided into two sides – some considered R. Okuličius a hero who managed to resist the mafia’s clutches, he was even elected man of the year, while others tried to equate the businessman with almost a criminal. Immediately after this crime, the Okuličius family was placed under state protection – the businessman’s children were taken to Germany, their home was guarded by the authorities for about 7 years, and the authorities kept promising that the family would be able to build a new life and, having changed their names and surnames, would be settled in the United States of America (USA) or Australia, until they were finally offered to move to Latvia. The Okuličius did not accept this offer – they remained to live in their native Panevėžys, where they were watched as if through a magnifying glass. “My father is different every Christmas Eve – he rarely celebrates Christmas Eve or Christmas,” admitted R. Okuličius’s son. He is currently hiding from the Lithuanian police in Spain – he decided to flee his homeland when he learned that Panevėžys law enforcement officers had launched a pre-trial investigation into human trafficking and the smuggling of a large amount of narcotics. He managed to remain unnoticed for several years, although he had founded a car rental company that successfully operates at Alicante airport and the city of Torrevieja. This is where D. Okuličius now lives with his family - Spanish law enforcement officers, acting on the request of colleagues from Lithuania, had detained the businessman, he spent half a year in a local prison, before finally being released on bail of 25 thousand euros. But he does not plan to return to Lithuania yet - the local court did not satisfy the request of Lithuanian prosecutors and refused to extradite him for criminal prosecution. This decision has been appealed to a higher court - D. Okuličius said that if Spain nevertheless decides to extradite him to Lithuania, he will not sit idly by and will submit the complaint to the judges who make the final decisions. "Then Madrid will decide," - the man who is successfully developing a car rental business in Spain admitted that he is tired of hiding, he wants this story to end as soon as possible and put an end to it. But he himself does not intend to surrender – he admitted to a Delfi.lt journalist that although he cannot leave Spain, because he would be detained in any country of the European Union and the world, he had come to Lithuania several times while hiding. And the officers did not even notice it. D. Okuličius found out that he was wanted by police officers as soon as he arrived on vacation in Turkey – at that time he was informed by phone that a man from Panevėžys had been detained, who had brought almost 10 kg of cannabis aerial parts from the Alicante province to Lithuania. About this – in an exclusive interview, which you can also read in Delfi: www.delfi.lt/a/94656425