Appeals court convicts judge in Malinauskas case

The Lithuanian Court of Appeal on Monday convicted judge Viktor Kažys of corruption, overturning his acquittal by the Kaunas Regional Court and imposing a fine of 12,500 euros, LRT reported.

Kažys, whose powers were suspended more than seven years ago, was found guilty of promising to accept a bribe.

The appeals court said it had assessed direct and indirect evidence, including a recorded conversation between Kažys and Drąsutis Zagreckas, who has been released from criminal liability. The court concluded that their body language, manner of communication and relationship indicated they had discussed a confidential matter.

It said Kažys’s response, “I will look into it,” to Zagreckas’s unlawful request should be understood as a positive answer and a promise to accept a bribe in exchange for unlawful action while exercising his official powers.

The Prosecutor General’s Office had sought a three-year prison sentence for Kažys.

The Kaunas Regional Court acquitted him last year in a major corruption case in the legal system. Prosecutors appealed that ruling to the Court of Appeal.

The appeals court in Vilnius held four hearings involving Zagreckas, who testified about the alleged corruption. He is currently under state protection and was escorted to the hearings by masked police officers.

The court repeatedly reviewed an 18-second recording made by Special Investigation Service officers in September 2018 near the State Tax Inspectorate building on Ulonų Street in Vilnius.

Prosecutors sought to prove that Zagreckas, acting with other defendants in the case, Oksana Sakalauskienė and Egidijus Galatiltis, arranged to meet Kažys outside the court for conspiratorial reasons. The meeting took place near the tax inspectorate on the same day.

According to the prosecution, Zagreckas offered Kažys money to overturn part of a Šiauliai Regional Court ruling in a case involving the misappropriation of property and acquit a married couple.

Data collected by the Special Investigation Service indicated that after meeting Kažys, Zagreckas met Galatiltis at a petrol station on Rinktinės Street and demanded that a bribe be passed to the judge.

Zagreckas told the appeals court that Kažys had given him the address near the tax inspectorate. He said he had driven behind the judge’s car after leaving the court.

Kažys said Zagreckas had followed him, while Zagreckas rejected that explanation. The judges hearing the case questioned whether the issues could have been discussed during a meeting lasting only 18 seconds. Zagreckas said the recording did not capture the entire meeting.