Former judge calls prosecutor’s inquiry into LRT censorship

A former Constitutional Court judge has called a request by Lithuania’s General Prosecutor’s Office for information about LRT’s rules on covert reporting an attempt at censorship. LRT reports that media experts also say efforts to restrict journalists’ ability to gather information secretly threaten media freedom.

The prosecutor’s office asked LRT director Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė to explain the broadcaster’s editorial rules on covert information gathering. It said it was investigating a possible violation of the public interest.

LRT’s editorial policy allows journalists to gather information covertly when there is evidence that the conduct they seek to document would demonstrate unlawful or dishonest actions, and when exposing those actions serves a clear public interest. Journalists must also obtain advance approval from a responsible editor.

Toma Birmontienė, a professor at Mykolas Romeris University and a former Constitutional Court judge, said the request was inconsistent with the principles of media freedom. She said she could not see how it served the public interest, as the prosecutor’s office had argued.

“Quite frankly, I view the situation as censorship, as an attempt to censor, an attempt to control, to find some other mechanism,” Birmontienė told LRT. She added that the request gave her the impression that “this is the second act of a long play.”

Deimantas Jastramskis, a professor at Vilnius University’s Faculty of Communication and a member of the LRT Council, said the prosecutor’s letter did not explain the context or purpose of the investigation, or how it related to the public interest.

He called the request “strange curiosity” and an “entirely ill-considered step” by the prosecutor’s office. Jastramskis said the letter could be read as an indirect reproach to journalists seeking to defend the public interest. He also said journalists should not be afraid to record secretly when necessary, adding that the request could affect all media organisations doing serious reporting.

The experts noted that the Constitutional Court has already addressed journalists’ right to gather information covertly, and said attempts to restrict it encroach on media freedom.