Imprisoned ex-MP Gapšys appeals court refusal to approve his early release

Imprisoned former MP Vytautas Gapšys has appealed a first-instance court decision that refused to endorse a parole commission’s ruling to release him early, the BNS news agency reports.

The Kaunas Regional Court received Gapšys’ appeal on Tuesday against an 11 June ruling that rejected the parole commission’s 4 May decision to release him early, according to court representative Inga Ramanauskienė.

Gapšys has requested that the commission’s decision and a complaint from the Kaunas District Prosecutor’s Office be re-examined by the regional court, and that he be given the opportunity to respond to the prosecutor’s arguments. He also asked for his appeal to be heard in an oral proceeding, with both himself and his defence lawyer present.

The prosecutor’s office disagrees with the parole commission’s assessment of Gapšys’ risk of reoffending, arguing that his sentence should continue to be served in a correctional facility.

Courts have already rejected Gapšys’ requests for early release twice before, following unfavourable decisions by the parole commission. Gapšys has been imprisoned since November 2023, when the Lithuanian Court of Appeals found him guilty. The Supreme Court of Lithuania upheld his conviction in October 2024, reducing his sentence to four years and three months in prison. He still has about one year and eight months left to serve.

Under the Code of Execution of Punishments, prisoners serving sentences of four to ten years may be released on parole after serving half of their term. If the prisoner agrees to intensive supervision, this period can be further reduced by up to nine months. Court records indicate that Gapšys has agreed to intensive supervision.

Gapšys was convicted for promising to perform actions requested by the also imprisoned businessman Raimondas Kurlianskis, in exchange for a 12,100 euro discount on political advertising for the Labour Party and a 15,000 euro donation to the institution “Art and Sports Projects”.

Former MP Eligijus Masiulis was also convicted in the same MG Group political corruption case. He and Kurlianskis have also sought early release, but courts have so far rejected their requests. Other former MPs Šarūnas Gustainis and Gintaras Steponavičius, as well as three legal entities – the Liberal Movement, the Labour Party, and MG Group – were also convicted in the case, with total fines amounting to around 1.8 million euros.