Lithuanian MP’s remarks on student cultural protest violated ethics code, parliamentary committee finds
The Lithuanian parliament’s Ethics and Procedure Commission (EPK) ruled on Wednesday that public statements by MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis about a 2025 cultural protest—including claims targeting student participants—breached the country’s Code of Conduct for State Politicians, LRT reports.
The commission found that Žemaitaitis, leader of the Nemuno aušra party, violated the code’s principle of respect for individuals and the state during a September 30, 2025, broadcast on OpTV and a November 20, 2025, Facebook post. Both instances involved comments about students participating in protests organised by cultural groups.
In the OpTV appearance, Žemaitaitis claimed that students from the M.K. Čiurlionis Art School had joined demonstrations during school hours, alleging without evidence that teachers or administrators must have authorised their absence. He suggested an impending investigation would reveal “very interesting things” about how students were “allowed to protest” and which lessons they missed, stating: “This is just a matter of one or two months before we meet with the children’s community, their parents. And I think they will tell us many interesting things—how the teacher ordered it, which teacher ordered it.”
The MP also shared a screenshot on Facebook in November 2025 appearing to show names of students from Kaunas Jonas Basanavičius Gymnasium planning to attend a protest in Vilnius, writing that he expected law enforcement to film the participants and forward recordings to authorities. Žemaitaitis later edited the post, claiming the image was shared by mistake and that he had “no intention” of publicising minors’ personal data.
The EPK recommended Žemaitaitis avoid statements that could be interpreted as using his parliamentary status to undermine constitutional rights to free expression and peaceful assembly. The commission’s decision noted that while the MP argued his remarks aimed to highlight potential issues in education oversight—not to dispute constitutional rights—his language risked encouraging arbitrary scrutiny of protesters.
Lithuania’s Journalists’ Ethics Inspectorate separately informed the EPK that it is investigating complaints over Žemaitaitis’s Facebook post for potential violations of data protection laws concerning the Basanavičius Gymnasium students and a teacher. No probe was opened regarding the Čiurlionis Art School case, as no formal complaint was filed.