LRT has terminated its cooperation with TV host Algis Ramanauskas who is currently under investigation for suspected hate speech against Russian speakers.
“The public broadcaster has the highest ethical standards not only for its employees, but also for all programme creators, hosts and actors, as their pubic statements are often associated with LRT,” the public broadcaster told BNS. “Ramanauskas’s repeated controversial public rhetoric is incompatible with these standards and damages LRT’s image.”
Approached by BNS on Saturday, Ramanauskas refrained from commenting on the situation for the time being.
“I don’t want to comment right now. [...] If I make a statement, you will know it from my social media account or my channel,” Ramanauskas said.
Prosecutors are carrying out a pre-trial investigation into Ramanauskas’ remarks about people who consume Russian culture.
The probe was launched under the Criminal Code’s article on public incitement to violence and physically violent treatment against a group of persons or individuals based on their nationality and language.
In a video posted on YouTube on September 13, while interviewing the nationalist politician Vytautas Sinica, Ramanauskas went on a rant against Russian speakers and people who consume Russian pop culture. He said that they should “have their children taken away and then they should be shot”.
After facing criticism, Ramanauskas commented that he was not speaking about Lithuania’s Russian speakers, but about Lithuanians who consume Russian culture.
The pre-trial investigation into alleged hate speech was launched after examining and evaluating complaints from eight individuals and evidence collected during the clarification of the circumstances, prosecutors said.
Ramanauskas is not an employee of LRT and the video was not produced or aired by the public broadcaster. However, Ramanauskas is one of the hosts of the political satire show Dviračio Žinios on LRT.
