U.S. Agency To Hold Hearing On Lithuanian Fighting Extradition

CHICAGO (AP) -- A U.S. agency will hear testimony on a former Lithuanian lawmaker who is jailed in Chicago and fighting extradition.

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe says on its website that it'll hear testimony Thursday in Washington, D.C., regarding 47-year-old Neringa Venckiene.

Her lawyers recently asked the 7th U.S. Court of Appeals to halt her extradition.

She faces Lithuanian charges linked to her claims that there's an influential pedophile network in the Baltic nation. She fears she'll be killed if forced to return.

The State Department offered no reasons why it approved her extradition in April.

Those testifying Thursday include her teenage son, Karolis Venckus, with whom she fled Lithuania in 2013. The commission, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, monitors compliance with human rights accords.

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