Supreme Court to hear Malinauskas appeal in corruption case

Lithuania’s Supreme Court has agreed to hear a cassation appeal by former Druskininkai mayor Ričardas Malinauskas, who was convicted in a corruption case, LRT reported Wednesday.

The court will hear the case orally, its representative Tautvilė Merkevičiūtė told BNS. The appeal seeks to overturn the part of an appellate court ruling that rejected Malinauskas’s appeal and have the case reconsidered by that court. A hearing date has not yet been set.

In September, the appellate court upheld Malinauskas’s conviction for bribery, offering bribes, influence peddling and illicit enrichment. It left in place a fine of 60,000 euros. His mayoral powers ended after the ruling. Malinauskas has paid the fine and can run in next year’s mayoral elections.

Violeta Grigorienė, a member of the majority faction For Druskininkai and a former ally of Malinauskas, is temporarily serving as mayor. Malinauskas has worked as chief adviser to the municipal administration since September 18.

The Special Investigation Service assessed the circumstances of his appointment but declined to open a pretrial investigation, saying it had found no signs of a corruption-related criminal offence. Delfi reported that Malinauskas will earn 5,664 euros a month before tax, the same as he did as mayor.