Skvernelis says contact ban imposed after eight-month investigation

Seimas member and former prime minister Saulius Skvernelis says a ban on contacting certain people was imposed only as a corruption investigation was nearing completion, LRT reported, citing BNS. He said he had met one of the suspects before the restriction was introduced.

Skvernelis confirmed that he had met a suspect in the same pre-trial investigation but did not directly identify the person as his former adviser Agnė Silickienė.

He said the additional remand measure may have been imposed in the hope that the meetings would continue, allowing authorities to record a violation and order him to wear an electronic ankle monitor.

“For eight months, they did not ban any communication and saw no threat to the pre-trial investigation. But suddenly, near the end of the investigation, such a measure appears,” Skvernelis told news portal Delfi in an interview published Monday.

Skvernelis said their meetings were based on personal and emotional considerations and that they had not discussed the investigation or attempted to interfere with it. He said there had therefore been no real reason to tighten the remand measure or require him to wear an ankle monitor. The measure has been in place since July.

The parliament member also said he had been prohibited from communicating with a large number of people, some of whom had not been identified. The restriction covers employees of one state-funded institution and three private companies, as well as people who worked there when the alleged criminal activity took place.

Skvernelis said he was preparing a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that President Gitanas Nausėda’s public comments about his case could amount to pressure on the public and law enforcement. He also criticised the president’s reported claim that he had been shown operational intelligence, saying that national leaders are not legally entitled to access such information.

Skvernelis has been charged with bribery. Law enforcement authorities suspect that, while serving as speaker of the Seimas, he accepted at least 51,000 euros in cash bribes on several occasions in exchange for political favours connected with the activities of the State Plant Service.

Silickienė, who previously worked as Skvernelis’s adviser, is suspected of belonging to a criminal organised group, accepting bribes and possibly acting as an intermediary in transferring money to the politician. She has also been ordered to wear an ankle monitor.

Former conservative lawmaker Kazys Starkevičius and several other people have also been charged in the corruption case involving the State Plant Service.