Lithuania’s Prosecutor General’s Office has refused to open an investigation into a suspected leak of information to former MP Kristijonas Bartoševičius about a criminal investigation against him.
Bartoševičius is suspected of sexually abusing four minors. He resigned as MP on the same day that the prosecutor general approached the parliament speaker about stripping him of legal immunity, giving rise to speculations that he could have been informed about the investigation.
However, prosecutors have concluded that there is no reason to believe that any information was disclosed to Bartoševičius or that it harmed the investigation. They have therefore decided not to investigate the circumstances of the possible leak, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced on Tuesday.
The opposition Social Democratic Party had asked to open the probe.
Some opposition groups in the parliament initiated an extraordinary one-day parliamentary session last week to propose setting up an ad hoc commission to investigate the suspected leak, but the initiative was blocked by the ruling parties.
Bartoševičius was on a business trip in Chile when he submitted his request to the Central Electoral Commission on January 20 to have his mandate terminated, which was done on January 24.
On February 1, the Prosecutor General’s Office named Bartoševičius a suspect in a sexual assault and child molestation case involving four minors who were allegedly abused when Bartoševičius was still an MP.
Bartoševičius was elected in 2020 as a candidate on the list of the ruling conservative Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD), although he is not a member of the party.
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