Ward representative appeals dismissal of Rita Miliūtė gesture case

LRT reports that the administrative case against journalist Rita Miliūtė over showing her middle finger remains unresolved after a local representative appealed a court ruling that upheld the case’s dismissal.

Violeta Fominienė-Salemonė, representative of the Vaikų sub-eldership in Naujininkai, filed an appeal on October 16 against a September 30 ruling by the Vilnius City District Court. She is asking the Vilnius Regional Court to overturn that ruling, cancel a police decision issued on August 7 and return the case for further investigation and a new decision, the court’s media representative Giedrius Janonis told ELTA.

Fominienė-Salemonė argues that the ruling was based on an insufficiently precise assessment of video footage of the entire event at which Miliūtė made the gesture.

Police ended the administrative proceedings, reasoning that Miliūtė showed her middle finger during a political protest and did not direct it at a specific person, making it an expression of political opinion. Reviewing that decision, Vilnius City District Court judge Vitalijus Melnikov said the gesture is generally understood as insulting, but its meaning must be assessed in context. He concluded that Miliūtė had used it to express opposition to political developments during a protest against proposed legislation.

The protest took place outside parliament in April against proposed amendments to the LRT law. Miliūtė, appearing on stage, pointed her middle finger towards parliament. Police later received complaints from people demanding that she be punished and that the video be removed.

Miliūtė was initially fined 15 euros over the gesture. She challenged the decision, and the administrative case against her was subsequently dismissed. The September ruling confirmed that the police had acted properly in ending the proceedings; the new appeal will now be considered by the Vilnius Regional Court.