Lithuanian prosecutors send comedians’ disability hate speech case to court

Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office has sent to court a criminal case against screenwriter Andrius Zimaitis and comedians Antonas Kisliakas and Dominykas Klajumas, who are accused of inciting hatred against people with disabilities, LRT reported.

The three are accused of acting as a group. Klajumas is also accused of continuing to commit offences of this kind.

The investigation concerned discriminatory remarks about people of short stature made on Klajumas’s podcast, “Koks skirtumas”. The investigation began in summer 2025 after the prosecutor general ordered a review of publicly available information and complaints were received from the Lithuanian Disability Organisations Forum and members of the public about the podcast video and its trailer.

According to the case file, the defendants’ remarks about people with disabilities caused by a genetic disease who had taken part in a special LRT social project constituted public mockery, contempt for people with disabilities and incitement to hatred against them. Seven people have been recognised as victims in the investigation.

Prosecutors said the evidence suggested that the defendants may have acted out of selfish motives, knowing that the video and excerpts containing hate speech about people with disabilities would be distributed publicly on video-sharing and discussion websites and social media accounts. Investigators found that Klajumas, who ran the podcast, sought to distribute and promote the video as widely as possible.

Although some of the defendants later apologised publicly for their remarks, investigators said they did not critically assess their actions and continued to mock people because of their disabilities. Klajumas allegedly continued distributing the video and did not remove it despite a request to do so.

The video and its trailer reached a very large audience, prompted negative comments about people with disabilities and discredited the LRT project aimed at reducing social exclusion.

Investigators also identified 15 additional offences separately charged against Klajumas. They said his statements targeted different groups of people with disabilities and that he continued creating and sharing videos that allegedly incited hatred against people with disabilities and those who supported them, as well as posting comments containing hate speech.

The investigation was organised and supervised by a prosecutor from the third division of the Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office and carried out by officers from the First Police Commissariat of the Vilnius County Police Headquarters. The case will be heard by the Vilnius City District Court.