Pocius accuses detractors, avoids dismissal

  • 2007-03-21
  • By Arturas Racas

Pocius claims he can back up his accusations with hard evidence.

VILNIUS - The embattled head of Lithuania's Security Department, Arvydas Pocius, who had already tendered his resignation and was slated for dismissal in a March 15 parliamentary vote, is now likely to remain in his post after presenting Parliament with dramatic accusations of security leaks and KGB involvement among his detractors.

The Lithuanian Seimas, which a few months ago supported a resolution stating that Pocius was not competent to head the security department, in a surprising vote rejected president Valdas Adamkus' decree on his dismissal. Only 32 out of 141 lawmakers supported the president's decree, falling far short of the majority it needed to pass.
The vote was largely swayed by Pocius' address to Parliament, during which the security chief delivered a number of bombshell accusations related to national security matters.

"When the discussions on the sale of the Mazeikiu Nafta refinery had started and we had learned about the interests of neighboring Poland, we found that one unfriendly and very interested neighbor obtained classified information [about the matter]. We conducted intelligence work and understood that the information was leaked by former or current traitors within the Security Department," Pocius announced to Parliament.
"It was only today that we found out that one or perhaps a few top officials in the Security Department had passed or even sold this information, which was important to the Lithuanian economy and its national security, to a third country. The value of this transaction was 100,000 euros," Pocius added.

The Mazeikiu Nafta oil complex, which includes the sole refinery in the three Baltic countries, was sold last year to the Polish PKN Orlen company. At the time Russian oil companies, including Lukoil, had also been bidding to take over Mazeikiu Nafta.
Without elaborating, Pocius also announced in his speech that the Security Department has "almost" solved two high-profile past crimes 's the detonation of the Brazuole railway bridge in 1994 and blowing up of the Lietuvos Rytas newspaper building in 1995. Lithuanian prosecutors, however, later said they were surprised by Pocius' statement.
Further, the security chief accused Algimantas Matulevicius, chairman of the parliamentary National Defense and Security Committee, the same body that had concluded Pocius could longer head the Security Department, of collaboration with the KGB.

"The person, about whose collaboration with the KGB there is sufficient archive data and evidence collected by security department officials, boldly continues his work in a top position," Pocius said, adding that he is ready to produce this evidence upon request.
Matulevicius has since denied the accusation and has demanded 100,000 litas in compensation from Pocius for slander.
Pocius had officially resigned last December after a months-long investigation conducted by the parliamentary National Defense and Security Committee concluded that he was unfit to head the department. During the investigation Pocius openly confronted the lawmakers involved, accused them of playing politics and refused to provide them with information they had requested. He also fired two top counter-intelligence officers during the investigation, claiming they had leaked confidential information.
Despite his resignation, Pocius remained in place during the more than three months it took for the president to find a candidate for his replacement. According to Lithuanian law, only the president, with Parliament's approval, can appoint and dismiss the security chief.

Adamkus had picked Povilas Malakauskas, head of the Special Investigation Service, for the job. As a candidate Malakauskas was seen as a compromise figure who was likely to be acceptable to the fragile parliamentary majority. After the vote President Adamkus announced that he was recalling his decree on Malakauskas' nomination.
A parliamentary board on March 19 requested that the Security Department present documents proving the statements Pocius made in his speech.

"We want answers by Wednesday [March 21] and then the Parliament will decide what to do next 's to continue the procedure on Pocius' dismissal or not," Viktoras Muntianas, speaker of Parliament, told journalists.
However, it is unlikely that the decision to keep Pocius in place will be reversed.
"The Seimas has decided that Pocius will continue his job," Rita Grumadaite, the president's spokesperson, told journalists immediately after vote. She also said on March 16 that the president does not plan to submit a new decree on Pocius' dismissal.