Lithuanian Prosecutor General Nida Grunskienė on Tuesday asked the parliament to strip MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis of his legal immunity.
The request to allow the prosecution of the MP is based on evidence gathered in a pre-trial investigation, the Prosecutor General’s Office said in a press release.
The evidence suggests that Žemaitaitis posted anti-Semitic texts on Facebook, in which he “publicly ridiculed, expressed contempt for, and incited hatred against a group of people of Jewish nationality”.
Žemaitaitis has been questioned as a special witness in the probe. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, further criminal proceedings against the MP are not possible without the parliament’s consent for prosecuting and arresting him or otherwise restricting his freedom.
The Constitutional Court last month accepted for examination the parliament’s petition asking the court to look into whether Žemaitaitis broke his oath of office and grossly violated the Constitution by his anti-Semitic Facebook posts.
If the Constitutional Court finds that Žemaitaitis violated the Constitution, the parliament will vote on stripping the MP of his mandate. At least 85 votes in the 141-member parliament are needed to pass the motion.
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