Prosecutors drop demand for LRT journalist to reveal source

Prosecutors have withdrawn their demand that LRT disclose the source who told its journalist about alleged sexual harassment of a 14-year-old at the Gruzdžiai socialisation centre, LRT reported. The decision was made on Friday by Sigita Blum, a prosecutor at the Kaunas District Prosecutor’s Office.

Blum said the decision followed the consolidation of the pretrial investigations and an assessment of the evidence collected. She said the volume and content of the available information had changed, so the decision requiring the media organisation to disclose its source would not be implemented.

Lithuanian National Radio and Television had appealed a decision by the Šiauliai District Prosecutor’s Office that approved a law enforcement request for information related to the preparation of an article published on LRT.lt.

The case concerns a complaint by a teenager who told staff that an older centre employee had touched her chest and offered sexual acts. A pretrial investigation has been launched. LRT.lt journalist Eglė Samoškaitė learned about the incident from a source.

Law enforcement authorities had requested information about how the article was initiated, the circumstances in which the information was obtained and other details related to its preparation. LRT said the request was directly linked to revealing the journalist’s source.

LRT argued that protecting journalists’ sources is a fundamental principle of free and independent media. The broadcaster said sources may be disclosed only in exceptional circumstances, when there is a clear and sufficient legal basis.

Under Lithuania’s Law on the Provision of Information to the Public, a court may order the disclosure of a source, or impose measures aimed at identifying one, only when this is necessary to protect vital or other particularly important public interests and the required information cannot be obtained by other means.