Court again rejects early release for imprisoned former lawmaker Gapšys

A Kaunas district court has again rejected conditional release for former lawmaker Vytautas Gapšys, who is serving a prison sentence for corruption, LRT reported, citing the ELTA news agency.

The court upheld a prosecutor’s appeal and refused to approve the Conditional Release Commission’s decision to release Gapšys early. The ruling can be appealed to the Kaunas Regional Court.

The case returned to the district court after it ruled in June that Gapšys should not be released. He appealed, and a three-judge panel of the Kaunas Regional Court annulled that decision because of procedural violations and sent the matter back for reconsideration.

The Conditional Release Commission had recently supported Gapšys’ early release, stating that he was serving an actual prison sentence for the first time and that his risk of reoffending was low.

The commission also noted that Gapšys had worked since 2024 as an assistant worker, provided business management and public relations consultancy, and offered free legal services at the Crisis Management Centre. The commission said there was no evidence that he was linked to a criminal subculture or supported criminal behaviour.

Kaunas Regional Prosecutor’s Office prosecutors challenged the commission’s decision, disputing its assessment of Gapšys’ risk of reoffending.

Gapšys is serving his sentence at an open-type correctional facility in Kaunas and returns to his family in Vilnius at weekends. If he is not released early, he will remain imprisoned until February 24, 2028.

The Supreme Court of Lithuania sentenced him to four years and three months in prison. In 2023, the Lithuanian Court of Appeal found that Raimondas Kurlianskis, then vice-president of the MG Baltic concern, had asked Gapšys to use his position and influence as a member of parliament to affect other public officials.

In exchange, they agreed on illegal remuneration in the form of disguised bribes: a 12,100-euro discount on Labour Party political advertising and 15,000 euros in support for the public institution Art and Sports Projects.

The Labour Party, the Liberal Movement, the MG Group concern, Kurlianskis and former lawmakers Eligijus Masiulis, Gintaras Steponavičius and Šarūnas Gustainis were also found guilty in the political corruption case. Prison sentences were imposed on Gapšys, Kurlianskis and Masiulis.