Supreme Court to hear Bartoševičius appeal in closed hearing

Lithuania’s Supreme Court will hear an appeal by former MP Kristijonas Bartoševičius on November 18, after he was convicted of sexual offences against children, LRT reported.

The hearing will be held orally and behind closed doors. Bartoševičius will take part remotely from Kaunas Prison, court spokesperson Tautvilė Merkevičiūtė told the news agency ELTA.

His lawyer is asking the court to overturn the rulings against him and either end the case or send it back for a new hearing at the first-instance or appeals court. Prosecutors and the victims have not appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Court of Appeal previously rejected Bartoševičius’s appeal, finding that he had been rightly convicted on all charges. Panevėžys Regional Court, the first-instance court, sentenced him to seven years in prison. That sentence remained in place, and a later ruling also barred him for five years after his release from work or activities that could involve children or minors.

Bartoševičius was found guilty of all 10 offences charged, including sexual assault of a child and a minor, indecent acts involving a person under 16, and causing minor health impairment to victims. He was taken to Kaunas Prison in May.

The pre-trial investigation was completed in July 2023, and the case was sent to court. Bartoševičius announced on January 23, 2023, that he was giving up his parliamentary seat for personal reasons; prosecutors announced an investigation into possible sexual offences against minors later that day. Delfi reported that the alleged offences involved pupils of the Ąžuoliukas boys’ and youth choir. Publicly available information says Bartoševičius headed the choir from 2012 to 2020 and taught at Kaunas Veršvų Gymnasium in 2018 and 2019.