'You will die as those in Paris': Lithuania's e-media Delfi office evacuated due to threatening letter

15.01.201512:17

On Thursday morning a letter containing threats in Russian and suspicious powder arrived at the office of Baltic online news source Delfi in Vilnius.

After emergency services had been informed about the delivery the entire staff were evacuated, Delfi reports.

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The letter, addressed to editor-in-chief of Delfi Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė, said: “You Islamophobes will soon die as those in Paris. Wait. Delfi – over with you soon! Allahu Akbar!”

It also had a hand-drawn picture of a coffin bearing the inscription ‘Monika’.

The alleged sender given on the envelope is the president’s former adviser Daiva Ulbinaitė. The woman was shocked by the news of the threats against Delfi and the fact that they used her name. She said she had no idea why her name was used by the author of the letter.

Initial inspection by rescue services has not found any hazardous substances in the letter.

“The envelope was tightly sealed. We took two samples and handed them over to the Public Health Centre, while we carried out primary inspection. We could check for traces of mercury in the air, which we did not find, radiation does not exceed normal levels. We did not find any aggressive chemicals,” said Captain Vadimas Ignatavičius of Vilnius County Fire and Rescue Board who is working on the site.

However, Delfi offices will remain closed until Friday morning, pending more accurate results from laboratory.

Delfi is the biggest online news source in Lithuania and has previously been targeted by hacker attacks, most likely due to its strong stance critical of Russia’s foreign policies.