The Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office has opened a pre-trial investigation into MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis’ remarks claiming that Jews were killing Lithuanians during World War Two.
According to Elena Martinonienė, its spokeswoman, the probe is based on the Criminal Code’s article on public contempt and incitement to hatred against any national, racial, ethnic, religious or other group of people.
Žemaitaitis posted comments on his Facebook profile this week, expressing his anger over Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė’s visit to Israel and accusing Jews of deporting and killing Lithuanians.
“We, the Lithuanian nation, must never forget the Jews and Russians who were very active in the destruction of our nation!” he wrote.
“What is disgusting is that Šimonytė is talking such nonsense, given that on June 3, 1944, Lithuanian Jews, together with the Russians, killed the entire village of Pirčiupiai and the people who lived there,” the MP wrote, commenting on the prime minister’s statement about Lithuania's friendship with Israel.
The Pirčiupiai massacre that Žemaitaitis was referring to was actually perpetrated by German SS troops. On June 3, 1944, after a group of Nazi Germans had been attacked by Soviet partisans in a nearby forest, the Germans sent a punishment squadron and burned alive almost all inhabitants of Pirčiupiai, 119 people.
Ninety-six percent of Lithuania’s Jewish population was killed by Nazis and their Lithuanian collaborators in the Holocaust.
Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, told BNS on Wednesday that the state must react to Žemaitaitis’ statements and take measures to prevent anti-Semitism.
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Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, speaker of the parliament and leader of the Liberal Movement, described the MP’s remarks as a continuation of his “chosen line which is based on provocations and the stirring up of discord”.
The board of the Lithuanian Freedom and Justice Party suspended Žemaitaitis’ membership back in May over his Facebook post criticising the demolition of a Palestinian school by Israel.
Condemnation from state leaders
“In my opinion, the situation is very simple: anti-Semitism is unacceptable in absolutely any form, in absolutely any words, actions or in any other way, and everyone, including elected politicians, should be held responsible for such things,” Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė commented on Žemaitaitis’ posts on Thursday.
She said she was asked about the politician’s earlier statements during her visit in Israel.
“Naturally, not all people are familiar with Lithuania’s internal politics and know that some colleagues in the Seimas [parliament] allow themselves to do things that the vast majority of their colleagues would not,” Šimonytė said.
She also noted that Žemaitaitis could be impeached for repeated anti-Semitic statements.
President Gitanas Nausėda also censured Žemaitaitis’ statements on Thursday.
“The president underlines that anti-Semitic statements that are contemptuous of national harmony are not permissible for anyone, let alone members of the Seimas,” the president told BNS via his spokesman Ridas Jasiulionis.
Parliament Speaker Čmilytė-Nielsen said on Thursday she had asked the Commission for Ethics and Procedures to look into Žemaitaitis’ remarks.
“I have turned to the Seimas Commission for Ethics for it to consider his remarks made earlier this week, which, in my personal opinion, go beyond the limits of what could be said not only by a member of the Seimas, but also by any self-respecting person,” the speaker told reporters, adding that the commission could decide on impeaching the MP.
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