The Polish tabloid Fakt began its campaign for Kedys' amnesty to Poland on Wednesday.

VILNIUS — Despite new evidence police have unearthed of Drąsius Kedys’ criminal connections, the fugitive’s public support has expanded outside of Lithuania to Poland.

The Polish mass-circulation tabloid newspaper Fakt has started an editorial campaign in favor of granting Kedys political asylum in Poland on the grounds that his murderous actions were justified because he was protecting his daughter from a corrupted criminal justice system.

“Since Lithuania wants to put him in prison, the Polish government should do everything possible to hit somewhere in our country and freedom enjoyed here. A hero who deserves it!” the first Fakt editorial on Kedys reads.

Meanwhile the story has been well-covered by the Polish media.

Criminal connections probed

Back in Lithuania, police are continuing to search for Kedys while investigating his connections to the Kaunas underworld.

The country’s Criminal Police Bureau, which tackles organized crime, allege that Kedys was involved with smugglers, specifically Sauliaus Velečkos, a member of the Agurkas (Cucumber) gang. Several years ago Kedys was arrested in Smolensk, Russia with contraband. Now police say that Kedys may have had a disagreement with Velečkos over money garnered from the smuggling of automobiles.

“Lately we received information that Kedys had lots of conflicts with Kaunas criminal organizations,” Algirdas Matonis, bureau director, told the press Thursday. “If this version will be proved correct, we will have the right to say the Kaunas mafia played a trick, using that situation to kill the judge and get rid of Kedys.”