Lithuanian Supreme Court drops ‘receipt’ case against former Jonava mayor

The Supreme Court of Lithuania (LAT) on Wednesday dropped the so-called “receipt” case of former Jonava District Mayor Mindaugas Sinkevičius and overturned lower courts’ convictions.

“The Supreme Court of Lithuania ruled that in this criminal case, the courts incorrectly applied criminal law, unjustifiably found Sinkevičius guilty and convicted him [...]. Therefore, the procedural decisions of the first and appellate-instance courts were annulled, and the criminal case against Sinkevičius was dismissed,” the LAT said in a press release.

Last May, the Kaunas Regional Court found Sinkevičius guilty of abuse, document forgery, and misappropriation of municipal funds. The politician was fined 12,500 euros and banned from holding public office, including the position of mayor, for three years.

The Lithuanian Court of Appeal rejected Sinkevičius’ appeal, upholding the first-instance court’s ruling. Once the verdict became final, the Central Electoral Commission stripped the politician of his mandate as mayor of the central district of Jonava.

Sinkevičius appealed the appellate court’s ruling to the Supreme Court last November.

Prosecutors accused Sinkevičius of causing 1,487 euros in financial and non-financial damage between 2019 and 2023 while serving as a council member and mayor, undermining public trust in the mayor’s office.

The politician was charged with falsifying 16 documents by submitting inaccurate information about purchases unrelated to his activities as a council member.

Before the trial began, Sinkevičius paid 4,015 euros back to the municipal budget. He claimed that the use of municipal money to pay his personal telecom bills was due to human error.

The LAT found that the lower courts had misapplied and misinterpreted “major damage”, the essential element of abuse of office.

According to the Supreme Court, the amount of unjustified expenses paid to Sinkevičius over four years is much smaller than the major damage typically involved in the case law of the cassation court, which usually exceeds 12,500 euros.

The panel of judges concluded that Sinkevičius’ actions did not go beyond a disciplinary violation, as “no objective circumstances were established in the case” to prove that his actions posed the level of danger or harm necessary for abuse of office as a criminal offence, or caused major non-financial damage to the municipal administration and the state, according to the press release.