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The Vilnius Regional Court acquittal in 2018 was overturned, the judge was fined 200 minimum standards of living, that is, a fine of 7,532 euros, announced judge Justas Namavičius at the hearing.
The verdict took effect immediately after its publication.
“There was enough data in the case about the conviction of R. Antanavičius,” said J. Namavičius.
The Attorney General’s Office proposed to assign LTL 25 thousand to R. Antanavičius. a fine of EUR. The fine imposed by the court is less than that requested by the prosecutor due to the personality of the convicted person and the fact that at the time the crime was committed there was a lower basic number of penalties and penalties than today.
The judge of the Kaunas Regional Court R. Antanavičius is accused in the case that in June 2017 he gave a bribe of 600 euros to the then judge of the District Court of Mažeikiai Mindaugas Klemen for the latter to reduce the period of deprivation of the right of the driver to drive vehicles.
After receiving the police material, then-President Dalia Grybauskaitė suspended the powers of R. Antanavičius. They have stopped so far.
The case was referred to court in the fall of 2017, but a final verdict has yet to be announced. The Court of First Instance acquitted R. Antanavičius without proving his participation in the commission of the crime, the Court of Appeal modified the grounds for the acquittal by stating that the judge had not committed any activity that had the characteristics of a crime. The Supreme Court referred the case to the Court of Appeal.
The Lithuanian Court of Appeal, which examined the criminal case on appeal a second time and examined the evidence, concluded that the Vilnius Regional Court had unreasonably ignored the testimony of the main witness, that is, Judge M. Klemenis.
“The testimony of the witness was consistent, logical throughout the process and, together with other evidence, conclusively confirms that R. Antanavičius gave a bribe of 600 euros to the district court judge, wishing that he acted illegally in the exercise of his powers as a judge, that is, by examining a natural person, an appeal against the imposition of an administrative sanction, a decision in favor of said person and a reduction of the period of disqualification to drive the vehicle ”, announced the Court of Appeal.
Tips for buying honey
Mr. Klemen was questioned at the Vilnius Regional Court and subsequently questioned again at the Court of Appeal.
On June 4, 2017, R. Antanavičius went to buy honey from M. Klemenis, as he had previously bought honey from a colleague. The men were known, previously both worked at the Mažeikiai court.
According to M. Klemenis, from the conversation with R. Antanavičius he understood that he wanted the intoxicated person not to be deprived of the right to drive, so that the penalty would be lighter.
M. Klemenis told a colleague from the Kaunas Regional Court that judicial practice in such cases is strict, drunk drivers lose the right to drive. At the time, R. Antanavičius explained that the practice in drunk driving cases is not that strict and he applies it himself.
He claimed to have received a bribe from both the judge and the prosecutor.
M. Klemenis took a mantle with documents from R. Antanavičius.
“After a while I throw the sheets, and between those sheets – the envelope. It was a slight shock for me, I took out the envelope and saw 50 euro notes there,” says M. Klemenis.
Depending on the case, the judge received a bribe of 600 euros.
“In case of shock, I did not know what to do, in the morning I had to go to Vilnius, to the Santara clinics. What becomes the envelope is in my head, ”said M. Klemenis.
He stated that he tried to contact the Special Investigation Service (STT) but failed, not reporting his possible bribery to his immediate supervisor. The STT was notified of the alleged corruption on June 21.
Remembering that R. Antanavičius has an apartment in Mažeikiai, M. Klemenis took up the sleeve with the money and threw it into the mailbox of R. Antanavičius’s apartment on June 9. He then informed R. Antanavičius and offered to “clean the advertisements in the mailbox”. The latter did not immediately understand which inbox and thought that he was being offered to clean the email inbox.
After Judge M. Klemen refused to accept a bribe, on June 22, the then Mažeikiai District Attorney Žilvinas Gžimaila tried to bribe him with the same request and a bribe of already 1000 euros.
Mr. Klemen admitted that another attorney’s appeal against the same driver surprised him.
This driver was fined 300 euros by the Mažeikiai police for driving while intoxicated in Mažeikiai, Laisvės street (1.16 per cent intoxicated) and deprived of the right to drive for one year. The man wrote a complaint to the court. Due to an attempt to help the driver, as suspected, R. Antanavičius and Ž. Gzimaila.
Subsequently, the driver’s complaint was examined in court and the police decision to punish the driver was upheld. When attempts to bribe M. Klemenis became apparent, another Mažeikiai judge examined the case.
Shake – legal
The case raised the question of the legality of a search of a judge at his place of residence, which was carried out before the president agreed to prosecute the judge.
In accordance with the ruling of the Constitutional Court of March 9, 2020, the Lithuanian Court of Appeal concluded that the registration of a judge in his place of residence could not be considered as a further restriction of the freedom of judges and was carried out carried out legally.
R. Antanavičius previously worked at the Mažeikiai District District Court. This judge has participated in the selection for the position of President of the Kaunas Regional Court. In 2001-2002, R. Antanavičius worked as a lawyer in the Plungė district municipality administration, in 2002-2005 he worked as a specialist in the Special Investigation Service, later as an assistant in the Klaipėda City District Court, judge in Mažeikiai District District Court.
Since November 2013, R. Antanavičius has worked at the Kaunas Regional Court.
Mr. Klemen no longer works as a judge, he voluntarily resigned and became a lawyer.
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