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The commission’s chairman, the liberal Arminas Lydeka, told reporters after the meeting that “the immunity granted to a member of the Seimas should not be a cover-up of criminal responsibility.”
“If the deputy of the Seimas P. Gražulis thinks that he is right and has a different truth than the one stated by the representatives of the General Prosecutor’s Office, I believe that he will have the opportunity to defend himself and prove it in court. I believe that the decision of the commission is also a help for the Seimas member P. Gražulis to participate in the judicial proceedings and for the prosecution to complete this case by taking one or another decision in court, ”said A. Lydeka.
Jonas Pinskus, the only Seimas member to vote against waiver of immunity, said he believed P. Gražulis acted in response to requests for business assistance received and thus fulfilled his duties as a Seimas member.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Arminas Lydeka
“Not only was Gražulis in the process, there were Mr. Milius and a Judex woman. These two individuals were acquitted. Member of the Seimas P. Gražulis fulfilled his duty as a member of the Seimas, he reacted to the questions that were posed to him, such time not quite correctly, or with errors, but if he is acquitted again in court, that process will leave him with negative negative things. ”- J. Pinskus told reporters.
The Attorney General repeatedly appealed to Seimas to waive P. Gražulis’ legal immunity in order to complete the pre-trial investigation into the allegedly illegal actions of the politician. The previous parliament had already rejected such a request.
The Seimas Provisional Commission decides whether to comply with the prosecutor’s requests for waiver of immunity, and the final decision is made by the entire parliament.
To waive the immunity of a member of the Seimas, at least 71 parliamentarians must vote for it.
According to law enforcement data, P. Gražulis helped manage problems at the frozen food company Judex, when Russian officials found the Listeria bacteria in the company’s products in 2015.
Prosecutors say that while helping Judex, a Seimas member repeatedly called Lithuanian and Russian officials, went to the Krasnodar Krai area in Russia to influence Russian officials, urged businessmen to give bribes, and called for violations of existing procedures. . Judex received property benefits for this.
The Attorney General claims that with such actions the parliamentarian undermined the prestige of his functions, the authority of the Seimas, broke the oath of a member of the Seimas and as a result the state suffered significant damage.
P. Gražulis denies the allegations and claims that this case is a political settlement.
Prosecutors tried to question P. Gražulis as a special witness in 2016, but he refused to testify.
Last June, the Attorney General appealed to the Seimas to waive his parliamentary immunity, but then the parliament rejected the request.
According to the prosecutor’s office, after exhausting all available investigative possibilities, the pre-trial investigation into the abuse ended last fall.
However, according to the prosecution, the fact that the parliamentarian was sworn in again after this year’s Seimas elections makes it possible to reapply for the waiver of the immunity of P. Gražulis.
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