The historian is pointing a finger at the already unsolved problem of Lithuania: this is a matter of principle
He said that this issue has many aspects: juridical, ethical and practical.
Legal, according to LNK midday news interviewer, historian A. Kasparavičius, also has several axes.
“The essence of the legal aspect is very simple – these are agents of a foreign state hostile to us, who worked against our society, state and our nation. And in this case, only the court could determine the guilt of each of them according to the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania. Not the special services, no Seimasno The government.
Bearing in mind that the current heir to the rights of the Soviet Union Russian Federation they also keep those people a secret and protect them. And the Republic of Lithuania has passed the law for 75 years. This is the case, whether we like it or not, but de facto we have a gentleman’s agreement between Russia and Lithuania not to hide former Soviet Union agents who worked for the Soviet Union and live in Lithuania today. This is a very strange legal situation”, historian A. Kasparavičius shared his insights.
Speaking about the ethical aspect of this issue, the historian testified that the victims of KGB agents do not have the opportunity to receive moral and other compensation – because those people are classified.
“And one last practical point, these classified ex-KGB operatives are acting as frozen fish. They can be thawed by the special services of the same state at any time and released into the open waters to perform their functions”, historian A. Kasparavičius gave his assessment of the situation.
He said that the publicity and disclosure of secret lists eliminates all threats – as if there could be “sleeper agents” in the circle of his former KGB agents’ family, children, or grandchildren, as happened in the United States.
“And this restores the rule of law principle operating in Lithuania. This is a matter of principle,” he emphasized.
When asked if such a process would start a witch hunt, the historian A. Kasparavičius named countries where this has already happened.
“Our present-day neighbor Poland passed through it Germany, a similar situation existed in Latvia. And, to be honest, nothing tragic happened anywhere. But, without a doubt, those people who are connected in one way or another are not necessarily agents, they have certain privileges in our state. Because that state is already half way through its 40s, but the legal, ethical and practical problem is still unresolved,” historian A. Kasparavičius taught.
Delphi reminds that a new initiative related to the lustration process was presented this political season by the Lithuanian Peasants’ and Greens Unions, the opposition of the Seimas (LVŽS) member of the faction Stasys Tumėnas.
In the law, he proposes to provide that information about secret cooperation with the KGB would be declassified and made public when a person holds a position as a civil servant or is a candidate for it. The politician also proposes to legalize that persons recognized to have secretly cooperated with the former USSR special services, would not be able to perform the duties of the head of a municipal institution or institution, or his deputy.
The Law Department of the Seimas consistently takes the position that the proposed regulation is contradictory to the Constitution and the rule of law principle established in it. However, the politicians interviewed by Elta representing various parliamentary factions say that lustration is a matter of political will.
The TTK of the Seimas, which discussed this issue this week, took a break and is also considering the creation of a working group.
Watch the full LNK midday news interview with A. Kasparavičius here: