Seimas members agreed that there is a basis for the impeachment of R. Žemaitaitis

82 members of the Seimas voted for it, and there were no abstentions.

None of the members of the Mixed Seimas group and the “peasants” faction took part in the vote. The conclusion was supported by all those in power, the majority of social democrats, three democrats and the “worker” Ieva Kačinskaitė-Urbonienė.

After the vote, R. Žemaitaitis told journalists that he predicted that 101 or 102 MPs would be in favor. He claimed he had won bottles of whiskey and champagne in a bet on the results of the vote, losing one.

He suggested to his colleague to rest

“In a country that survived the Holocaust, where thousands of Lithuanians collaborated with the Nazis and became killing tools of their ideological machine, in a country where almost all Lithuanians of Jewish nationality were murdered, a member of the Seimas is spreading obviously anti-Semitic propaganda. If it is tolerable for you, it is a matter of your conscience”, said conservative Rasa Petrauskienė.

Agnė Širinskienė, the elder of the mixed group of Seimas members, missed the concreteness of which statements of R. Žemaitaitis are anti-Semitic.

She asked why a speech examination was not ordered, and the decisions of the prosecutors and the Ethics and Procedures Commission of the Seimas regarding the statements of R. Žemaitaitis were not received.

The parliamentarian thought that the ruling party was trying to cover up something by initiating impeachment and devalued the very institution of impeachment.

“We wear down the impeachment to the point that before, if the word “impeachment” reminded me of (Roland) Pax’s impeachment with all the arguments, with the conclusions of the services, with classified material, now the word “impeachment” will remind me of (Peter) Gražulis and raise a natural smile, because yes you managed to get rid of the accusations during this term”, said A. Širinskienė.

Social Democrat Dovilė Šakalienė emphasized that “freedom of expression and anti-Semitism are not the same thing”.

Artūras Žukauskas, a member of the Freedom faction, pointed out that the impeachment commission revealed that the member of the Seimas uses anti-Semitic rhetoric and hate speech deliberately, systematically and by applying political propaganda techniques. According to him, R. Žemaitaitis is forming a new party on the basis of hate speech.

“Such activities that incite acts of hatred in people are against the structure of democracy itself, as well as the structure of our country’s democracy, so I suggest, nevertheless, to allow respected Remigius to rest, rethink his political career prospects for a while and return to politics with positive and beneficial ideas for our country.” , he claimed.

R. Žemaitaitis himself explained on Thursday that hate speech is not a legal concept and suggested not to use it.

“Your arguments will be very good for me in the Constitutional Court, because you have just admitted that this impeachment is more of a political confrontation and a political aspiration to (deal with) me,” he said.

The parliamentarian cited the evaluations of the leaders of Turkey, Spain, Italy, the United States, and Canada on Israel’s current actions in the Gaza Strip.

“Politicians of all nations and states say what I said, that the actions of one or another politician raise anti-Semitic feelings against the entire state,” asserted R. Žemaitaitis.

Later, he told reporters that he did not regret and will not regret the statements he made. According to him, practically the whole world is now turning away from Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because of the killing of civilians in Gaza.

R. Žemaitaitis asserted that he did not intend to use the right provided for in the Seimas statute and renounce the mandate of a member of the Seimas without waiting for the decisions of the Constitutional Court (CT) and the Seimas.

“I am elected in a single-member district and I will go to the end. I am protected by the Constitution and the European Court of Human Rights,” he said.

“I think that when the Supreme Court starts examining the case in essence and when the chairman of the United Nations Human Rights Committee is summoned to the Supreme Court regarding the Palestinian school, I think we will have a different decision,” said the politician.

The initiative of the rulers

If the conclusion of the impeachment commission is approved, next week a draft resolution will be submitted to the Seimas regarding the initiation of impeachment and an appeal to the Constitutional Court (CT) to assess whether the behavior of the member of the Seimas contradicts the Constitution.

If a violation was established by the SC, the resolution on the cancellation of the mandate of a member of the Seimas would be considered adopted if at least three fifths or at least 85 members of the Seimas voted for it.

Representatives of the ruling factions initiated the impeachment of R. Žemaitaić due to his public anti-Semitic statements. According to them, the politician’s public statements and posts on social networks are anti-Semitic and incite hatred.

The text of the impeachment contains the following records of R. Žemaitaitis: “It turns out that without Putin, another animal appeared in the world – ISRAEL”; “We, the Lithuanian people, must never forget the Jews and Russians, who very actively contributed to the DESTRUCTION of our NATION!”, “Maybe next time Israel will drop a bomb on the Palestinian hospital, we blew it up because we were afraid that they would attack us <...> I WANT TO GIVE YOU A CHANCE DEAR JEWS OF ISRAEL TO APOLOGIZE TO PALESTINE AND THE EU FOR YOUR DISGUSTING ACTIONS IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY And I will repeat “After such events, there is no wonder why such sayings are born: A Jew climbed a ladder and fell by accident. Children, take a stick and kill that Jew” and others.

A special commission of the Seimas found that these records are grounds for impeachment against a member of the Seimas.

According to her, R. Žemaitaitis deliberately, repeatedly and purposefully spread untrue information about the Jewish people and persons of Jewish nationality, attributing to them serious and very serious crimes committed by other persons or groups of persons, blaming the entire Jewish nation for individual persons of this nationality or certain actions of the State of Israel and its institutions.

It was found that he presented biased and biased assessments of historical and present-day events related to Jewish people, and openly expressed justification and approval of statements promoting violent treatment of Jewish people.

R. Žemaitaitis did not cooperate with the impeachment commission, did not respond to his invitations to participate in meetings, he called the impeachment commission illegal and the accusations against him absurd.

The Attorney General’s Office, in turn, conducts a pre-trial investigation into public contempt and incitement to hatred against any nation, race, ethnic, religious or other group of people. R. Žemaitaitis, who has legal immunity, was questioned as a special witness.