Corruption scandal, raids cause turmoil

  • 2004-07-01
  • By Milda Seputyte
VILNIUS - Agents of the Special Investigation Service caused extraordinary domestic controversy and raised eyebrows around the region on June 22, just six days before the second round of the presidential election, when they raided headquarters of four main parliamentary parties and confiscated documents.

The raids, allegedly targeted corruption in the legislature, throughout the pre-election country turned into a tumult and even forced Vilnius Mayor Arturas Zuokas to flee to Poland on June 22 for fear that he might be arrested.
Zuokas was quoted as saying that he had been prompted to flee once he heard from unofficial sources that he might be detained before a meeting of the City Council scheduled for June 23.
The SIS claimed the raids and confiscations were part of an investigation into corrupt MPs in the four parties - the Homeland Union, the Social Democracy Party, the Liberal Central Union and New Democracy Party.
Yet considering that the three parties had publicly expressed their support for candidate Valdas Adamkus, many Lithuanians began wondering whether the service was trying to influence the outcome of the runoff ballots, which, according to polls, put the former president neck-in-neck with Kazimiera Prunskiene.
At the very least, many felt that the SIS displayed awful timing, even though the aim of the raids themselves - to battle corruption - was praiseworthy.
Still, according to law experts, there would have been no difference in legal procedures if the raids had been organized a few days after the election.
Professor at Lithuanian Law University Toma Birmontiene interpreted the agents' actions as a failure to follow the criteria of logic and proportion.
"I am very critical of these incidents. It is a pity that the special services had started active procedures during the election. Giving sanctions at this particular moment, a judge had to take into consideration the complexity of the situation and to evaluate the political implications," Birmon-tiene told the press the following day.
While evaluating the political situation on the eve of election, Chairman of the Central Election Committee Zenonas Vaigauskas said that the officers had indeed harmed the presidential election. He said that the situation might have created reasonable grounds for complaints from candidates after the runoff ballot, despite the fact that prior to the election both Adamkus and Prunskiene had assured officials that they would not question the results.
But the damage had been done. The morning after the raids the Seimas (Lithuania's parliament) called general prosecutor Antanas Klimavicius to explain the Special Investigation Service's actions.
On June 25, after investigating the incident, the prosecutor's office issued a special report concluding that the officers did not consciously intend to influence neither the course of the presidential election nor the results. Nor did they intend to influence the political situation in Lithuania, the report said.
Acting President Arturas Paulauskas, to whom the report was addressed, showed discontent about the report.
"The investigation is superficial and lacks substantial analysis," he told the press.
According to Klimavicius, raiding the headquarters of the most influential parliamentary parties was specifically aimed at determining whether five MPs had accepted bribes from Andrius Janukonis, board chairman of the Rubicon Group, one of Lithuania's largest business groups with assets around 44 million euros.
The SIS told prosecutors that in addition to influencing several amendments, Janukonis also issued direct cash payments to MPs, Klimavicius said.
Klimavicius also said that the documents were taken from the parties in order to investigate whether the money had been credited in their books. If the money had been credited, it could not be regarded as bribery.
Despite pleas from MPs, the general prosecutor refused to name those who may be involved with the corruption scandal.
Unofficially, the Special Investigation Service is pointing fingers at Vice Chairman Vytenis Andriukaitis, Homeland Union member Arvydas Vidziunas, Vice Chairman Gintaras Steponavicius and two members of the Liberal and Central Union fraction - Eligijus Masiulis and Klemensas Rimselis.
All five of these men have either acknowledged that they know Janukonis or have previously communicated with Rubicon Group representatives. Yet they unanimously deny all charges of corruption.
The head of the Special Investigation Service, Valentinas Junokas, explained in the Seimas that had it been in his competency, he would have chosen a different date for the raids.
"Perhaps the timing for collecting the documents wasn't the best. If I was the investigator myself, maybe I would have chosen a different day. However, the laws do not permit me to interfere with the work of the investigators," said Junokas.
Junokas' critics, however, were unequivocal about their take on the incident.
"It is not the first time the Special Investigation Service takes part in political provocations seeking not justice but particular political goals that structures hostile to Lithuania, and maybe corrupt ones, are interested in," Zuokas said.