Lithuanian politician sentenced to six years in prison for espionage in favor of Russia

On Tuesday, the Siauliai Regional Court found Algirdas Palecki, the former leader of the radical left-wing party “Lithuanian Socialist People’s Front”, guilty of espionage for Russia and sentenced him to six years in prison.

The Prosecutor General’s Office Palecki demanded imprisonment for nine years.

The second accused has been released from criminal liability

The other accused in this criminal case – Vilnius businessman Deimantas Bertauskas, who pleaded guilty in the course of the trial, was acquitted by the court on the recommendation of the Prosecutor General’s Office, recognizing that his voluntary testimony significantly helped uncover Russian intelligence in Lithuania.

Paleckis, 50, has been sentenced to a real prison sentence but has been released for the time being and the court has left him with an intensive supervision regime and a bail of € 50,000 previously paid.

Bertauskas was taken under state protection.

The judgment of the court is not final and can be appealed to the Lithuanian Court of Appeal.

Collaborated with the Russian intelligence service

According to the Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office, the defendants from February 2017 to October 2018, working in an organized group with an unidentified Russian intelligence officer during the pre-trial investigation and other Russian citizens, one of whom was found guilty in the January 13, 1991 case, for monetary compensation and in another form gathered information of interest to Russian intelligence services in Lithuania.

One of the forms of remuneration is help to establish contacts with representatives of a Russian political party in order to obtain funding for a party registered in Lithuania, as well as help to establish business contacts.

The accused were instructed to gather information about Lithuanian judges and law enforcement officers involved in the January 13 case, as well as other cases related to Russia’s aggression against Lithuania in 1990 and 1991.

Paleckis denied his guilt, claiming that he was engaged in investigative journalism, while Bertauskas admitted his guilt and testified.

Denied Soviet aggression against Lithuania

As the court acknowledged, the data collected in the case clearly show that Bertauskas and Paleckis committed the acts of which they are accused.

“There is no doubt that the offense of Paleck and Bertauskas in carrying out the task of Russian special services is very dangerous, as it involves helping Russia to prosecute Lithuanian courts, judges and their decisions, thus violating the principle enshrined in the Lithuanian Constitution. as an independent power of a state governed by the rule of law, it is independent, “the court concluded.

Less than ten years ago, Paleckis was tried for denying the Soviet Union’s aggression against Lithuania, claiming that during the tragic events of January 1991 in Vilnius, “his own had shot at his own.”

Lithuania is fighting more successfully with Russian spies

Scandals about exposed spies are more common in Lithuania than in Latvia. In October 2018, Algirdas Palecki, a former member of the Lithuanian Seimas and former Deputy Mayor of Vilnius, was arrested for spying for Russia. Interview with Latvian Radio political scientist Marjus Laurinavičs admitted that he was not surprised.

“Paleckis was my classmate at university. I know him personally. Honestly, I was waiting for something like this to happen. But during his studies, he was a completely different person. Absolutely.

If someone said at that time that Paleckis would become a pro-Russian politician, no one would believe it. He was a normal pro – European Lithuanian with close values ​​to independent Lithuania, “said the political scientist.

Paleckis’ openly pro-Kremlin position emerged about ten years ago. Soon after marriage. There are various rumors – as if he had often traveled to Russia, where his wife Olga’s mother and father live – a former employee of the State Security Committee (KGB). Palecka’s ability to repay the real estate loan was also suspected.

Arvids Anušauskas, a member of the National Security and Defense Committee of the Lithuanian Seimas and a historian, said that it was difficult to imagine Russia using such marginal politicians as Algirdas Paleckis, but he could gather information about the judges and prosecutors who ruled in the so-called January 13, 1991 case. .

In 2019, the Vilnius Regional Court found 67 defendants guilty of war crimes, including former Soviet Minister of Defense Dmitry Yazov. Soon after, the Russian Committee of Inquiry instituted criminal proceedings against four judges of the Vilnius Regional Court, accusing them of “deliberately unjust judgment”.

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