Seimas speaker says Zemaitaitis impeachment should await final ruling

VILNIUS - Lithuania's parliament speaker Juozas Olekas said on Wednesday that impeachment proceedings against opposition Nemunas Dawn leader Remigijus Zemaitaitis should wait until the deadline for an appeal expires or the Supreme Court issues a final ruling.

"Impeachment is initiated once a final decision is in force, either from the Supreme Court or if the Court of Appeal ruling is not contested through cassation," the speaker told reporters. "We must wait for either the appeal period to pass or for the Supreme Court's decision."

However, Olekas did not rule out the possibility of lawmakers gathering the necessary signatures to propose starting the impeachment process sooner. Zemaitaitis' fate will likely be decided in the autumn, the speaker said.

On Wednesday, the Lithuanian Court of Appeal found Zemaitaitis guilty of inciting hatred against Jews and grossly trivialising the Holocaust, increasing his fine from 5,000 to 10,000 euros. The court ruled that the politician's public statements about Jews crossed the boundaries of lawful freedom of expression, systematically mocking, disparaging and promoting hatred against people of Jewish nationality.

The ruling took effect immediately but can be appealed. Zemaitaitis has pledged to challenge the verdict.

The criminal case stems from Facebook posts and public remarks made in May and June 2023. In the posts, he referred to Israelis as "animals" and claimed that Jews contributed to the destruction of the Lithuanian nation. Impeachment proceedings were previously initiated against the politician over the posts. In April 2024, the Constitutional Court ruled that he had broken his oath and committed a gross violation of the Constitution.

Following that ruling, Zemaitaitis resigned his seat in the Seimas but was re-elected to parliament in the autumn of 2024.

The speaker suggested that consideration should be given to preventing situations in which a politician can avoid the consequences of impeachment by resigning and then running for office again. He said proposals for such procedural changes could be prepared by the autumn session of the Seimas.

Olekas also emphasised that the Lithuanian state's position on anti-Semitism and hatred was clear, and that statements by individual members of parliament did not reflect official state policy.