Grunskienė: Žemaitaitis was questioned by prosecutors regarding his statements

“On September 26, R. Žemaitaitis was questioned as a witness about his own possible criminal act,” N. Grunskienė informed on Wednesday at the meeting of the special commission established for the impeachment of MP Remigijaus Žemaitaitis.

The General Prosecutor pointed out that during the ongoing pre-trial investigation, other witnesses were also questioned.

“All possible witnesses have been interviewed at this time, one linguistic examination was appointed, and a conclusion was obtained. Two linguistic tasks were assigned to specialists in order to determine whether the speech is linguistically humiliating and demeaning to persons of Jewish nationality, and the conclusions have been obtained,” informed N. Grunskienė.

“There are also three tasks assigned to the Journalists’ Ethics Inspector, two conclusions have been received, we are waiting for one conclusion,” she added.

N. Grunskienė points out that there are no persons recognized as victims in the ongoing pre-trial investigation.

“In this pre-trial investigation, there are no victims recognized yet, and there is no civil lawsuit in the case either. But I say for the time being, because the pre-trial investigation has not yet been completed,” the general prosecutor pointed out.

On his part, the former chairman of the Constitutional Court (CT) participated in the commission meeting Dainius Žalimas pointed out that the basis for impeachment is when the violation of the Constitution committed by a person or the violation of the oath of a member of the Seimas is gross. The legal expert believes that the actions of R. Žemaitaitis can be treated as a gross violation.

“I think it’s definitely a rough one (foul – ELTA). Because I would not be able to evaluate anti-Semitism in any other way”, emphasized D. Žalimas.

“In general, actions contrary to the law, actions contrary to the Constitution, even such hatred are labeled as incompatible with the Constitution. And, from my point of view, this is also enough to say that this is a gross violation of the Constitution”, he also emphasized.

D. Žalimas points out that in his defense, R. Žemaitaitis can argue with the article of the Constitution, which indicates that the parliamentarian is not responsible for his statements in the Seimas, except for insult or defamation. However, according to him, there is no basis for R. Žemaitaič, who is known for his anti-Semitic statements, to rely on this article.

“It should be emphasized that, nevertheless, statements in the Seimas do not allow violations of the Constitution, the element of the Seimas member’s mandate is very clear. member of the parliament again, he is not free in the sense of a mandate, he must abide by the Constitution and cannot commit gross violations of the Constitution. There is also no reason to rely on this article,” emphasized the former chairman of the CT.

He also drew attention to the fact that R. Žemaitaitis spreads his anti-Semitic ideas using the status of a member of the Seimas, which, according to the former chairman of the CT, is an aggravating circumstance.

During the hearing, D. Žalimas also noted his opinion that the General Prosecutor’s Office could initiate a pre-trial investigation against R. Žemaitaič not only for inciting hatred, but also for grossly belittling the Holocaust.

“I wonder if the General Prosecutor’s Office has opened a pre-trial investigation not only for inciting hatred, but also for the gross denigration of the Holocaust. Because, it seems to me that such signs would have been found after a linguistic examination”, he thought.

Last week, the Seimas approved the government’s initiative regarding the impeachment of the parliamentarian Remigijas Žemaitaičis, who was noted for his anti-Semitic remarks. By the decision of the Seimas, a commission was formed from 6 ruling parliamentarians, because the opposition representatives refused to participate in it.

The commission is tasked to complete the work and submit its conclusion by October 10.

ELTA reminds that R. Žemaitaitis outraged the international community with his anti-Semitic statements. The politician accused the Jews of having carried out the Lithuanian holocaust.

R. Žemaitaitis has caused a stir with his statements on the Facebook social network before. The politician shared a video about a school demolished near Bethlehem, Palestine, Israel and stated that “besides Putin, another animal appeared in the world – Israel.”

The embassies of Israel, Germany, the USA and the Netherlands and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) quickly reacted to R. Žemaitaitis’s statements, condemning the Seimas member’s statements and demanding a public apology.

The General Prosecutor’s Office has started a pre-trial investigation into the MP’s anti-Semitic statements.