Court definitively rejects complaints over Nemunas Dawn finance probe

LRT reported that the Vilnius Regional Court has definitively rejected complaints by members of the Nemunas Dawn party over the refusal to open a pretrial investigation into information published by journalists about the party’s financing.

The complaints sought an investigation into alleged defamation, the unlawful collection and disclosure of private-life information, and the disclosure of an official secret, prosecutors said on Thursday.

Applications were submitted by Nemunas Dawn leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis, former Environment Minister Kastytis Žuromskas and a person identified as S. M. They concerned a joint investigation published in March by LRT, Delfi, 15min, Redakcija and Siena, which disclosed information about funds and transfers in individuals’ bank accounts linked to the financing of Nemunas Dawn.

Vilnius County Police refused to open a pretrial investigation on April 24, finding no indications of a crime or criminal misdemeanour. A prosecutor at the Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office and an investigative judge at the Vilnius City District Court later rejected complaints from Žuromskas and another applicant. The Vilnius Regional Court has now upheld those decisions.

The regional court said protecting journalistic sources was an important principle of a democratic state, allowing journalists to obtain information of public importance about possible corruption or abuse of power. Opening an investigation merely to check all possible holders of the information would amount to using criminal proceedings to identify an unknown journalistic source without the exceptional conditions required by law, it said.

The court also said the publications disclosed only a limited amount of private data relating to payments of membership fees to Nemunas Dawn, and only insofar as it was relevant to the public interest in knowing the sources of the political party’s financing.

According to the court, the information collected indicated that the journalists’ aim was to expose possible violations in the financing of the party’s election campaign, rather than to publicise the applicants’ private lives. The court found no evidence that the journalists had obtained the information through methods restricting privacy that would normally require judicial authorisation.

The ruling said the public interest in information about possible violations in Nemunas Dawn’s financing was legitimate and justified because the party held 20 seats in parliament at the time, belonged to the governing coalition and participated in decisions of importance to the state.

BNS reported that the March investigation found systematic cash payments to Nemunas Dawn by relatives and associates of parliament member Robertas Puchovičius, despite his public denials that cash had reached the party through him or his circle.

The investigation said party members who had no money in their accounts deposited a specific amount of cash, after which the same or a similar amount was transferred to the party’s account as a membership fee. The collected data indicated that at least 13,500 euros originated from cash and 4,000 euros from transfers by Puchovičius to people close to him.

Almost all those who deposited cash into the party’s coffers through their accounts before the parliamentary election were people from Puchovičius’s circle, including family members, neighbours, business partners and employees, the investigation said. They included Žuromskas, who was delegated by Nemunas Dawn to serve as environment minister and had previously been a hired manager at one of Puchovičius’s construction companies.