2024-07-30 09:51:03
In this case, the 52-year-old pro-Russian politician is accused of insulting the post-war Lithuanian partisans and slandering Lauryns Kasčiūnas, a member of the Seimas and the current Minister of National Defense.
During the last hearing, on the initiative of the prosecutor Tomas Stelionis, L. Kasčiūnas was re-interrogated.
Both the minister and A. Paleckis participated in the meeting remotely – the latter is currently serving a sentence in Kaunas prison for preparing to spy for Russia.
Awaiting closing speeches
Tautvilė Merkevičiūtė, the assistant to the chairman of the Kaunas District Court for media and public relations, informed the news portal lrytas.lt that the accused asked L. Kasčiūnas many questions related to the minister’s political career, past, and the literature he had read – certain questions, asked with possible provocative purposes, were considered by the judge remove
The questioning of L. Kasčiūnas was the last in the case. It will be followed by closing arguments on October 7, at which time the prosecutor will propose a sentence.
A. Paleckis himself categorically denies his guilt – – that he did not commit any crime.
However, the infamous character is propped up against the wall by the findings of the linguistic expertise, which the prosecutor’s office relied on when charging him.
It “glittered” and in the belange
A. Paleckis repeatedly came to the attention of the law enforcement while he was in Kaunas prison, after the phone conversations held in 2022 and 2023 with Audrius Nak, one of the founders of the portal “ekspertai.eu”, which spreads pro-Russian narratives.
The Department of State Security classified this portal as one of the disseminators of pro-Russian information in Lithuania.
Judging from the research material, on October 25, 2023, A. Paleckis “sparkled” during a conversation with A. Nak, disparaging the Lithuanian partisans of the post-war era.
According to law enforcement, A. Nakas uploaded this conversation to the “ekspertai.eu” channel on the social network “Youtube”. The prosecutor’s office assessed these statements as defamatory.
Poured dirt on the partisans
At that time, A. Paleckis threw mud at the freedom fighters. “He ran away because they shot Jewish children, old men, and women,” said A. Paleckis in such a humiliating, slanderous and insulting way about the post-war Lithuanian partisans.
The pro-Russian figure accused the US of seeking to “weaken the Soviet Union and cause it as many problems as possible”. Repeating the narratives of the Soviet Union and today’s Russia, A. Paleckis presented the situation in such a way that the armed resistance to the Soviet occupation did not arise from the public’s sacrifice and determination to defend the freedom of their country, but was inspired by the USA.
A. Paleckis, who was convicted of preparing to spy on Russia and denying the crimes of January 13th, blamed the “Voice of America” for the deaths of freedom fighters in the forests, while keeping silent that the brutal repression, torture, and killings were carried out by the Soviet power structures.
A. Paleckis also slandered the partisans for the deaths of civilians, concealing the fact that many of them were collaborators who diligently served the Soviet system, occupied various positions, complained about the resistance fighters who defended freedom with arms, their relatives, supporters, and contacts, and contributed to their torture, exile, and imprisonment.
“Speaking of the post-war armed resistance, presenting it as damage caused by the USA to Lithuania, A. Paleckis belittled its participants, attributing to them only negative motives for the struggle and concealing the purpose of the struggle to defend the freedom of Lithuania,” the indictment of the prosecutor’s office states.
If A. Paleckis is found guilty, he may be imprisoned for up to 2 years.
Also sued for defamation
In the same criminal case, A. Paleckis is also charged with defamation of Seimas member L. Kasčiūnas – on September 30, 2022, he told A. Nak on the phone from prison that he “sometimes wants” L. Kasčiūnas to lead the Seimas National Security and Defense to call the committee Nazi, and the parliamentarian’s own activities are said to be associated with Nazi ideology.
This conversation was uploaded to the same “ekspertai.eu” channel on the social network Youtube.
After such phrases, the MP, current Minister of National Defense L. Kasčiūnas turned to the law enforcement officers.
After A. Paleckis filed charges for slandering L. Kasčiūnas, this episode was connected to the partisan defamation case.
Worked against Lithuania
A. Paleckis was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months in prison by the decision of the Supreme Court last June for preparing to spy for Russia.
It was established that A. Paleckis and businessman Deimantas Berkauskas, acting in an organized group with Russian intelligence officers, from February 16, 2017 to October 10, 2018, carried out the task of the Russian Federal Security Service – they were tasked with collecting information of interest to RF intelligence for money and other remuneration. information about Lithuanian judges and prosecutors related to the investigation of January 13 and other criminal cases related to the Soviet Union’s aggression against Lithuania in 1990-1991, as well as to collect other data.
D. Bertauskas was released from criminal liability because he helped reveal data about the subversive activities of Russian intelligence hostile to Lithuania in our country.
2024-07-30 09:51:03