Interior minister, police commissioner resign after road accident controversy

  • 2007-11-14
  • By Kimberly Kweder

PACKING HIS BAGS: After the fatal accident Sukys said he could no longer work with the police commissioner and handed in his resignation.

VILNIUS - Lithuanian Interior Minister Raimondas Sukys and Police Commissioner General Vytautas Grigaravicius have both resigned from their posts following a car accident in which a police officer killed three 10-year-old boys, sparking national outrage.

President Valdas Adamkus accepted their letters of resignation on Nov. 12. 

"It was a painful decision. I think highly of both of them as top-class professionals. Interior Minister Raimundas Sukys has done a great deal to have Lithuania accepted into the Schengen area. Police Commissioner General Vytautas Grigaravicius has succeeded in curbing organized crime," the president said.

The accident occurred Nov. 8 in the village of Aleksandrija in the Skuodas district of northwestern Lithuania. A BMW driven by 27-year-old Skuodas police officer Saulius Paulikas hit three 10-year-old boys who were walking along a roadside in the evening.

Witnesses at the scene told local media that Paulikas, instead of calling for an ambulance, simply said he was sorry and drove away. He later turned himself in to police.

An investigation is still being conducted to determine whether the driver was sober at the time of the collision. A blood alcohol test taken 17 hours after his detention did not detect alcohol in his system.

Sukys told the prime minister on Nov. 10 that he could no longer work with the head of the police department, according to media reports.

After receiving Sukys' resignation earlier in the day, Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas said he respected his decision to step down. Sukys will leave his post Dec. 10.

At a Nov. 12 meeting with journalists, the president said that he would take control of reforming the nation's police system, which faces endemic problems.

"It is obvious that the major problem for the police is a lack of qualified staff. A great number of respectful police officers have withdrawn due to low salaries in the recent years," Adamkus said.

There has also been criticism of job performance in the police department under Grigaravicius' leadership, and road accidents caused by careless officers are not uncommon.

According to Paulius Radvilavicius, spokesman of the Vilnius city police department, 57 traffic accidents that occurred in Vilnius between January and November of this year were deemed the fault of police.

Raimundas Kalesnykas, an advisor at the Ministry of Interior, countered that accountability reports from the police submitted to the interior minister every few months are made public and posted on public safety institutions' Web sites.

"Everyone can make their own conclusions [about] the reports. You could make your own opinion and say, 'Is it good work at the institution or not?'" Kalesnykas said.

Kalesnykas told The Baltic Times he was surprised to hear that Grigaravicius submitted a "resignation" to the President and instead referred to the move as a retirement.
 
Sukys was a member of the Liberal and Central Union. Kirkilas said he hopes the next Interior Minister will be a member of his own Social Democratic Party.