Irma Gajauskaitė leaves courtroom after disrupting hearing on riot incitement case

A Lithuanian court has continued proceedings against former parliamentary candidate Irma Gajauskaitė after she left the hearing in protest, having earlier disrupted the prosecutor’s statement in her appeal against a 75-day detention sentence for inciting violence, reports LRT.

The Šiauliai Regional Court convened on Tuesday to review Gajauskaitė’s case, where her lawyer requested additional evidence examination. Prosecutors opposed the motion, arguing all material had already been reviewed in the first-instance trial. The court partially granted the defence request, ordering further evidence assessment, according to court spokesperson Vytautas Jončas.

During the session, Gajauskaitė repeatedly interrupted the prosecutor, calling her statements “lies” before walking out of the courtroom. The judges proceeded without her. Gajauskaitė insists the case should be reheard under proper legal procedures, claiming she was previously denied the right to self-defence in Šiauliai District Court. She maintains she can present evidence proving her innocence.

The hearing will resume on June 16.

Gajauskaitė was convicted in February for attempting to organise riots, public incitement to hatred based on ethnicity, and causing physical harm to a relative. The court also ordered the confiscation of her computer and mobile phone, used in committing the offences. During her initial trial, she was removed from proceedings for repeated disruptions.

The charges stem from a 34-minute video Gajauskaitė posted on social media on October 8, 2024, while campaigning for parliament. In the recording, she urged supporters to bring baseball bats, sticks, and knives to a televised election debate in Vilnius on October 11, 2024, declaring the event could “end in riots like Lithuania has never seen” and calling on viewers to “take justice into their own hands.” The court ruled her statements constituted a deliberate attempt to provoke mass violence.

Judge Renata Maziliauskienė noted that the offence was interrupted only after police blocked the video’s distribution and detained Gajauskaitė. Witnesses testified they interpreted her call as a direct incitement to attack participants at the debate, held at the former Lukiškės Prison complex. Gajauskaitė claimed her words were metaphorical, but the court rejected this defence.

She was also convicted of publicly inciting ethnic hatred in a separate charge.