LRT director expresses trust in journalist accused of covert recording by Social Democrats

The director general of Lithuania’s national broadcaster LRT, Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė, has stated she trusts the organisation’s journalist over the Social Democratic Party (LSDP) in an ongoing dispute over an alleged covert recording device found during a closed party meeting, LRT.lt reports.

Speaking on LRT’s programme “ELTA kampas”, Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė said she believed journalist Eglė Samoškaitė, who denies planting a voice-recording pen in the LSDP council session. “If I have to choose who to trust—the LRT journalist or the Social Democrats—I will trust the LRT journalist,” she said, citing a “long history” of disputes between the party and the broadcaster over truthfulness.

The LRT director confirmed the broadcaster’s editorial policies strictly regulate covert recordings, requiring serious justification and prior approval. “Our journalists know the rules: if someone wants to make a secret recording, there must be very serious grounds, and it must be done with the editor’s knowledge,” she said. She declined to speculate on potential disciplinary action, stating procedures would follow established protocols.

The controversy began in mid-April when the LSDP reported finding a recording device in a closed council meeting and filed a police complaint, alleging illegal information gathering. The party’s statement named Samoškaitė as a suspect, though she has denied involvement. Police launched a pre-trial investigation last week.

Following the allegations, Samoškaitė suspended her membership in the Lithuanian Journalists’ Professional Association and stepped back from LRT’s protest initiative group. She has also stopped covering LSDP-related topics and no longer hosts the daily programme “Dienos tema”.

The LSDP meeting in question was closed to the public, with attendees prohibited from bringing phones.