Paksas cleared of charges that he leaked state secrets

  • 2004-10-20
  • By The Baltic Times
VILNIUS - Former Rolandas Paksas was cleared by a Vilnius court on Monday of charges that he leaked state secrets while serving as president.

Paksas, who was impeached in April for violating his oath of office and the Constitution, had been accused of telling his campaign financier and Russian businessman Yuri Borisov that the latter's phones had been wiretapped by the State Security Department.

Paksas insisted that he was innocent and said that the case was a continuation of the impeachment trial against him.

The pretrial investigation was launched on April 26 this year, shortly after Paksas was stripped of his post for gross violations of the Constitution in parliamentary impeachment. Prosecutors asked the court to fine the ex-president 9,375 litas (2,715 euros) for the crime.

The Constitutional Court earlier ruled that Paksas cannot hold an office that required an oath for the rest of his life.