Lithuanian appeals court to announce ruling in Žemaitaitis hate speech case

Lithuania’s Court of Appeals will announce its ruling on Wednesday in the case of Remigijus Žemaitaitis, the leader of the “Nemuno aušra” party, who was previously convicted of inciting hatred against Jews and Holocaust denial, LRT reports.

Prosecutor Justas Laucius has appealed the first-instance court’s decision, requesting the annulment of the part of the verdict that dismissed several episodes of the criminal act. Laucius seeks a new ruling and a harsher penalty, proposing a fine of €52,250 instead of the original €5,000 imposed on Žemaitaitis.

Žemaitaitis’ defence team has asked for his acquittal, arguing that his freedom of expression was severely restricted and that his constitutional right to hold and express personal beliefs was violated.

In December 2025, Vilnius Regional Court ruled that Žemaitaitis had publicly mocked, denigrated, and incited hatred against a group of people and its members based on their Jewish ethnicity, while also denying the Holocaust. The court found that his statements about Israel and Jews, including posts on Facebook in May and June 2023, used degrading and hateful language targeting a specific ethnic group.

A criminal case was initiated against the politician over these posts, which included claims that Israelis were “animals” and that Jews had contributed to the destruction of the Lithuanian nation. Žemaitaitis also faced impeachment proceedings over the remarks.

In April 2025, the Constitutional Court ruled that he had violated his oath and grossly breached the Constitution. Following this decision, Žemaitaitis resigned from his parliamentary seat to run in presidential and Seimas elections. He was re-elected to the Seimas in the autumn of 2024.