DistantNews
Support us
Court to hear appeal in 'receipts' case against former MP Vyšniauskas
🇱🇹 Lithuania /Crime & Justice

Court to hear appeal in 'receipts' case against former MP Vyšniauskas

From Delfi · () Lithuanian

Translated from Lithuanian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • The Lithuanian Supreme Court will hear a cassation appeal from Andrius Vyšniauskas, who was convicted in the 'receipts' case.
  • Vyšniauskas seeks to overturn the appellate court's conviction, arguing the case should not have been initiated due to misinterpretations and procedural violations.
  • The appellate court had previously reduced his fine and upheld a ban on public service, confirming his conviction for fraud and document forgery related to parliamentary expenses.

Lithuania's Supreme Court has accepted for review a cassation appeal filed by Andrius Vyšniauskas, a former parliamentarian and municipal council member convicted in the 'receipts' case. The court's selection panel decided to hear the appeal, which will be processed through written proceedings.

Vyšniauskas is challenging the appellate court's guilty verdict, aiming to have the criminal case dismissed or sent back for a new hearing. He maintains that the case was unfounded from the start, citing what he calls incorrect interpretations of facts and flawed legal reasoning by prosecutors. Vyšniauskas also asserts that both the district and appellate courts improperly applied the law and committed significant procedural errors that influenced the outcome.

In June, the Court of Appeal upheld Vyšniauskas's conviction but reduced his previously imposed fine from 7,500 euros to 6,500 euros. The part of the Kaunas Regional Court's decision prohibiting him from holding public office for three years remains unchanged.

From the very beginning of this case, I have maintained and still maintain the position that this case should not have been initiated at all, because the accusation was based on prosecutors' incorrect interpretations of factual circumstances and inappropriate legal premises.

— Andrius VyšniauskasVyšniauskas explained his stance on the case in his cassation appeal.

Vyšniauskas was initially convicted for falsifying 19 expense reports between May 2019 and October 2020, while serving as a member of the Marijampolė Municipal Council. He submitted inaccurate data regarding fuel, phone, and internet expenses related to his duties. The court found him guilty of fraud, abuse of office, and document forgery.

The appellate court revised the initial ruling, finding Vyšniauskas guilty only for expenses related to fuel purchases. It also adjusted the amount he illicitly obtained from the Marijampolė municipality administration through these expense reports, reducing it from 2,190 euros to 1,311 euros. This case emerged from a broader investigation into the misuse of municipal funds by politicians, initiated by activist Andrius Tapinas.

The selection panel of the Supreme Court of Lithuania decided to accept the cassation appeal of the convicted Andrius Vyšniauskas.

— Tautvilė MerkevičiūtėA representative from the Supreme Court confirmed the acceptance of the appeal.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Delfi in Lithuanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog