VILNIUS - The Vilnius District Court found Respublika publisher Vitas Tomkus guilty of instigating ethnic and religious hatred and fined him 3,000 litas (870 euros) for a series of controversial articles he wrote and published a year-and-a-half ago.
Tomkus ignited outrage last year after running a series of anti-Semitic articles in the Respublika daily, which is published in both Lithuanian and Russian, under the title "Who Rules the World?" Via a caricature of a Jew and a homosexual, Tomkus suggested a possible answer.
Politicians, foreign diplomats and Jewish communities were lightning-quick in their condemnation of the publications, which reminded many of times past when Jews were accused of conspiring to rule the world.
Tomkus denied insulting the Jewish nation, claiming that he only wanted to express his opinion and collect facts about corruption in Lithuania.
The court, however, emphasized that Tomkus wasn't being fined for his constitutional freedom of speech, but rather for promoting "propaganda with an idea and creed dangerous to society."
"The ideas in the selected publications are illegal because they promote national, racial and religious hatred," judge Audrius Cininas stated in court.
Rabbi Andrew Baker, director of the U.S. Jewish Committee's international relations department, appeared at the trial. When asked his opinion, the expert said Respublika's articles were a source of anti-Semitic promotion that instigated hatred and discrimination toward Jews.
Faina Kukliansky, defender for the Jewish community, appealed the ruling on the basis that it was too lenient. He asked the court to impose the maximum punishment of 5,000 litas (1,449 euros) and seize Tomkus' publications, as well as the tools used in the paper's production and distribution.
The lawyer based his appeal on the grounds that Tomkus himself penned the diatribe and that he never apologized to the Jewish community.
The court said it wasn't necessary to seize the publishing tools since production was already disseminated.
"The overall outcome of the case is good, I'd say. We can see from the verdict that he was found guilty for proliferating a myth about Jews' conspiracy to rule the world," Lithuanian Jewish Community Chairman Simonas Alperavicius told The Baltic Times. "Yet Tomkus did attempt to shift the focus elsewhere 's as if he purportedly intended to fight corruption."
"We are not going to appeal for a larger fine because the court has officially condemned Tomkus and a fine of three or five thousand doesn't change the fact. Not only did we want to defend the Jewish people, but also to save Lithuania's international reputation as we are also citizens," he added.
After hearing the court's verdict, Tomkus told the Vakaru ekspresas daily that he was going to appeal to higher judicial institutions. "I no longer hope to have justice from Judge Cininas. I will appeal as soon as I get the verdict. I will do so in order to defend my journalistic right to freedom of speech," he said.
"I don't expect to find justice, but I want to know if freedom of speech exists in Lithuania. The answer to this rhetorical question will be very important to all Lithuanian media," Tomkus, whose company won an auction for the government's stake in the Elta news agency (see story on Page 5), told Siauliu krastas, a regional paper.
Although the case began two months ago, it was postponed due to the defendant's failure to show up at court sessions. It was later decided to investigate the case in the defendant's absence.
In his annual speech, President Valdas Adamkus criticized prosecutors for the delay.
The court has already fined several Respublika employees for distributing the racially offensive publication, all of whom appealed to higher judicial institutions.
The pretrial investigation was launched in April last year but terminated in February since the publications were not deemed a criminal offense. The case was re-opened in March, and the articles were ruled as an administrative violation rather than a criminal offence.
