Anušauskas proposes partial access to former KGB archives

Conservative Seimas member Arvydas Anušauskas has proposed amending Lithuania’s Documents and Archives Law to allow partial access to documents from the KGB and other Soviet repressive, security and intelligence institutions, LRT reported.

“If one confessed secret KGB collaborator’s surname needs to be protected, that specific piece of data should be protected, rather than the entire file being closed. A historical document should not become inaccessible simply because it contains one line protected by law,” Anušauskas said in a statement cited by LRT.

Under his proposal, information whose use is restricted by law could be anonymised or access to it could be limited. The remainder of the document would remain available, he said.

Anušauskas said the change would be particularly relevant to KGB documents containing information about people who, after the restoration of independence, officially admitted to secretly collaborating with the former Soviet special services.

If the amendments are adopted, document custodians would have 12 months to review documents in the special part of the National Documentary Fund that were restricted under the previous rules and ensure access to them under the new regulations.