Lithuanian politician had right to call deportations and killings of Lithuanians a holocaust, lawyer argues

The defence lawyer for Remigijus Žemaitaitis, a Lithuanian parliamentarian convicted of inciting hatred, has argued in court that his client had the right to refer to the mass deportations and killings of Lithuanians as a “holocaust,” LRT reports.

Vytautas Sirvydis, representing Žemaitaitis in Vilnius Regional Court, rejected prosecutors’ claims that the politician had belittled the Holocaust. The lawyer stated that Žemaitaitis’ social media posts—at the centre of the criminal case—did not deny or justify the Jewish genocide but instead drew parallels with Lithuanian suffering under Soviet occupation.

“Where and when did Žemaitaitis say the Holocaust did not happen?” Sirvydis asked the court during closing arguments in the appeal hearing. He emphasised that the posts in question “nowhere state that killing is good, that it is wonderful,” and that Žemaitaitis had referenced both the Jewish Holocaust and Lithuanian deportations in the same context.

“Žemaitaitis had every right to call the deportations and killings of Lithuanians a holocaust,” the lawyer asserted.

Sirvydis urged the court to distinguish between Žemaitaitis’ statements as a private individual and as a politician, arguing that democratic principles protect unpopular political speech. “It is certainly not the job of prosecutors or courts to limit that essence of democracy,” he said.

The defence also criticised the prosecution for selective focus, noting that Žemaitaitis had directed similar criticism at Israel and Russia in his posts, yet faced charges only for comments about Jewish people. “The prosecution does not analyse the full context, the full communication at the time. The posts were not examined comprehensively, not together with historians,” Sirvydis argued.

Co-defence lawyer Egidija Belevičienė reinforced the claim, stating that historians called as witnesses had not disputed Žemaitaitis’ assertion that perpetrators of crimes against Lithuanians included individuals of Jewish ethnicity. “It was established that the facts presented by Žemaitaitis correspond to reality,” she said, calling the lower court’s guilty verdict “unfounded.”

Prosecutor Justas Laucius countered that direct calls for violence were not required to prove incitement to hatred. He argued Žemaitaitis had singled out Jewish individuals in his posts, citing a “mocking” numerical reference to anti-Jewish violence. “Attacks on individuals, insulting them, are sufficient for criminal liability,” Laucius said, adding that invoking Jewish people for political gain was a form of “cheap populism.”

The prosecution is seeking a fine of €51,250—over ten times the original penalty—while Žemaitaitis and his legal team push for full acquittal. The appeal follows a December 2025 conviction by Vilnius District Court for incitement and Holocaust denial.