Malinauskas could run again after paying 90,000 euros

Druskininkai Mayor Ričardas Malinauskas could stand in next year’s local elections if he pays his court-ordered fine and fulfils the imposed criminal measure, Lithuania’s Central Electoral Commission said, according to LRT.

Malinauskas must pay a 60,000-euro fine and a further 30,000 euros under the criminal measure, bringing the total to 90,000 euros, VRK adviser Indrė Ramanavičienė told ELTA on Tuesday.

“For Ričardas Malinauskas to participate in the upcoming elections for municipal councils and mayors, he must fulfil the sentence imposed by the court, by paying the fine, and the criminal measure must also be carried out,” Ramanavičienė said.

The Lithuanian Court of Appeal on Monday upheld the conviction of Malinauskas for influence peddling. The verdict became final immediately after the court ruling.

As the conviction was not changed, Malinauskas will no longer be able to continue serving as mayor. VRK is expected to revoke his mayoral mandate at a meeting on Thursday, in line with the Electoral Code.

Because less than a year remains until the scheduled municipal council and mayoral elections, a new election would not be held in Druskininkai. A temporary mayor appointed by the municipal council would serve until next spring.

VRK said it received an extract on Tuesday from the Register of Suspects, Defendants and Convicts and its archive, maintained by the Information Technology and Communications Department under the Interior Ministry. The extract states that the lower court sentence remains in force and that Malinauskas remains convicted and must pay the fine. It also records the criminal measure of property confiscation.

The case also involved Malinauskas’s former adviser and current council member Aivaras Kadziauskas, as well as judges from various courts who dealt with matters related to Vijūnėlė Manor.

Appeal court judge Evaldas Gražys, who led the proceedings, said neither he nor the other judges had any doubts about the politician’s guilt and that the case contained extensive evidence against politicians and other people.