On Tuesday, 101 MPs voted in favour of lifting the immunity of the leader of the Nemunas Dawn party. Nobody voted against or abstained. Representatives of the Nemunas Dawn did not participate in the vote.
Žemaitaitis, who is suspected of inciting hatred against the Jews in his social media posts, agreed that the issue of abolishing his immunity from prosecution would proceed under simplified procedures. However, during the sitting he rejected the allegations and claimed that the case was political.
Moreover, he once again accused Israel of waging a brutal war in the Gaza Strip and persecuting the Palestinians.
Leader of the Nemunas Dawn claimed that he had never insulted any Jews in his life, but in his social media posts was referring to KGB and NKVD officers who directly contributed to killing, deporting and torturing Lithuanians during and after the Second World War
Homeland Union’s MP Arvydas Anušauskas and Liberal Movement’s MP Simonas Kairys noted that Žemaitaitis does not seem to have drawn conclusions from his controversial statements and is ready to continue escalating the situation.
Liberal Movement’s leader Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, former speaker of the Seimas, criticised the Social Democratic Party (LSDP) and its leaders for creating the ruling coalition with the Nemunas Dawn and harming the reputation of Lithuania and its parliament in the process.
A case was opened against Žemaitaitis on suspicion that he incited hatred against the Jews and publicly denied or grossly trivialised international crime in his social media posts.
Last year, when commenting about Israeli forces destroying an EU-funded Palestinian school, he called Israelis animals and cited an antisemitic saying. He stated that there was a holocaust of Jews and an even bigger holocaust of Lithuanians in Lithuania. He also stated that not only Russians but also Jews actively contributed to the destruction of Lithuania.