An expert on the rhetoric of Žemaitaitis: we look like a state of savages
“It’s unrelated. I will say simply, maybe more primitively, although not quite legally correct, these are different violations of legal acts. What is the responsibility of the CT, it arises for gross violations of the Constitution and violations of the oath of the member of the Seimas.
And criminal liability is provided for in the Criminal Code (PC). In this case, for example, incitement of national or religious hatred, or Holocaust denial and gross belittling, I do not know how exactly the pre-trial investigation is conducted. Signs of this need to be identified and special institutions are working for this.
Violation of a Seimas member’s oath and gross violation of the Constitution are sufficient for impeachment. One of the grounds of impeachment is the commission of a crime. So, if a person is convicted first, then in that case it is possible to remove him for committing a crime. In this sense, such a connection is not entirely direct”, former chairman of the Constitutional Court, lawyer D. Žalimas taught in LNK midday news.
He emphasized that different types of liability can be applied for the same actions: both constitutional and criminal.
“The issue of constitutional responsibility really does not depend on whether for the same actions member of the parliament will be punished according to the Code of Criminal Procedure – by a court verdict, in the course of a special pre-trial investigation. Because the impeachment procedure is separate and specific. Seimas formulates allegations, then confirms them or not, KT. And if he approves, the person can be removed from his position”, said lawyer D. Žalimas.
D. Žalimas, the interviewer of LNK midday news, former chairman of the Constitutional Court, said that practice shows that pre-trial investigations last longer, and the Seimas impeachment commission could make a decision faster.
“It’s a question of what we want. Do we want to prevent such actions from the beginning, or do we have to wait until Mr. R. Žemaitaitis continues, one might say, mocking us all with his similar statements”, said D. Žalimas.
Last week, after the impeachment commission was formed due to the statements of R. Žemaitaitis, the opposition withdrew from it.
“I logically try to explain them as an effort to associate myself with certain voters for whom such behavior is acceptable. This is the fear of losing votes for his clear position towards R. Žemaitaitis. I don’t know if this is really always the most appropriate behavior in politics,” the former KT chairman thought.
According to D. Žalim, if MP R. Žemaitaitis continues this behavior, it will damage his political reputation for Lithuania will be bigger and bigger.
“By the way, we look like a state of savages with such statements. Because those who got acquainted with the statements of R. Žemaitaitis do not need to be an expert to see that the country has a particularly low political culture. Apparently, there are representatives of the nation in it, for whom such anti-Semitic views are quite acceptable. In a civilized Western society, such a politician will simply not be accepted”, said former KT chairman D. Žalimas to LNK midday news.
Delphi 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.
Watch the entire LNK midday news interview with D. Žalim here: