The Seimas will consider the proposal to open an investigation into the history of the VSD whistleblower

After submission, 52 members of the Seimas voted for such a draft of the resolution prepared by the representative of the opposition Democratic Union “Vardan Lietuvos” Vytautas Bakos, with 15 MPs against and 15 abstaining.

The ruling conservatives, representatives of the Liberal Movement and Freedom factions, some members of the opposition Democratic Union “Vardan Lietuvos” faction voted for the project, the majority of the opposition voted against or abstained or did not participate in the vote.

In order for the parliamentary investigation to begin, the Seimas will still have to vote on the adoption of the resolution. The decision is planned to be taken at the next meeting – already after the planned two-week break between Seimas meetings due to the consideration of the budget.

V. Bakas, who presented the project, said that the questions raised in the study are “related to the foundations of our democracy, the security of our election system, the protection of our speakers.”

The parliamentarians who spoke earlier said that the investigation would be directed against the head of the country, Gitana Nausėdas, in order to undermine his popularity in the run-up to the presidential elections in the spring of 2024.

“Why was it necessary to wait for five years, to wait for the start of the election campaign, because when we accept it, it will already be the beginning of November and the campaign will be endless.” Everything is aimed at one person, who is considered the most dangerous rival, and reducing his popularity,” said Agnė Širinskienė, representative of the Mixed Group of Seimas members.

The draft on the establishment of the temporary commission’s investigation was signed by 36 parliamentarians, most of them from the governing factions of the Fatherland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, Liberal Movement and Freedom.

The draft resolution proposes to establish a commission that would investigate the whistleblower’s information regarding possible illegal collection of information about individuals, possible illegal influence on intelligence activities, possible interference in the election process during the 2019 presidential election, possible illegal support for this campaign, possible violations of the rights of whistleblowers, possible illegal influence in the introduction sanctions against Belarus.

The initiative to convene the commission arose after the prosecutor’s office stated in the spring of this year that the intelligence officer’s report to the NSGK chairman about the actions of the State Security Department management submitted four years ago was improperly examined.

The material submitted by the speaker was examined in the Seimas in the previous term. In 2019, a VSD official appealed to the then chairman of the Seimas NSGK, V. Bakas, complaining to his managers about possible illegal activities.

This story is described in the book “The Speaker and the President” by investigative journalists Dovydas Pancerov and Birutė Davidonytė. The former official claimed to journalists that in July 2018, he received several sheets with many names and a verbal order “to check the election team and the list of possible supporters of one candidate” from the deputy director of the department, Remigijaus Bridikis. As it turned out, the supporters and associates of the then presidential candidate G. Nausėda were specified in it.

The NSGK of the Seimas, which then examined the situation, stated that the VSD acted legally by checking the environment of the presidential candidates, but called on them to refuse verbal orders in such situations.

In 2019, the reporter also applied to the Special Investigation Service (STT), after a few days the information was transferred to the General Prosecutor’s Office.

In January 2020, V. Bakas received a response from the prosecutor’s office that the STT “did not detect criminal acts or official misconduct” in this story, but the response did not say what procedural decision was made – whether to start or refuse to start a pre-trial investigation, the book says.

VSD representatives claimed to have checked the teams of all presidential candidates, the speaker himself assured that only G. Nausėda’s surroundings were checked, and R. Bridikis confirmed to him that the lists were received from G. Nausėda himself. The president categorically denies that he asked the VSD to check his team.