According to A. Veryga, the VRK itself should hold a meeting to discuss this situation.
“Such things should definitely be declared,” the leader of the “Farmers” told journalists at the Government on Monday.
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“If there are any, even as a private lawyer (…) relationships, the lawyer, for example, does not have to disclose them, these are privacy matters, but to declare that there was such a relationship, that payment was made for the work, (…) one should inform about it. And, apparently, for the VRK itself, this is a certain sign, a signal that maybe something should be more clearly regulated in their work,” he said.
He spoke this after the “Delfi” news portal published on Monday that L. Matjošaitytė, before returning to work at the VRK, consulted “Nemuno aušra” regarding the membership fee and helped prepare this political party’s response to the commission.
According to media data, L. Matjošaitytė, who became a VRK member last May, did not declare this fact. She also refused to disclose to the news portal whether she received payment for work for “Nemuno aušra”.
Meanwhile, “Nemuno aušra” vice-chairman Robertas Puchovičius confirmed communicating with L. Matjošaitytė but said he does not remember whether she provided services to the party and received payment for it.
According to V. Sinkevičius, the fact that L. Matjošaitytė provided the mentioned services as a private lawyer is nothing wrong, but it should have been reported.
“Without any doubt, upon becoming a VRK member, it would have been honest to declare that relationship and simply not participate in the vote to avoid today’s situation,” he emphasized.
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In turn, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said he is not familiar with all the circumstances of the situation and needs more time to assess them.
BNS wrote that from 2017 to 2021, L. Matjošaitytė was the chair of the VRK. She returned to work in the commission as a member last May. Her and lawyer Maksimas Reznikov’s candidacies were submitted by then “Aušra” delegated Minister of Justice Rimantas Mockus.
When appointing the commission, L. Matjošaitytė received the least support in a secret ballot, with 88 members of the Seimas voting for her candidacy.
In August this year, the VRK decided that “Nemuno aušra” and its chairman Remigijus Žemaitaitis grossly violated the Election Code and the Law on Political Organizations when they received membership fees through third parties from illegal funding sources.
The commission made this decision after a journalistic investigation published in March by “15min”, LRT, “Redakcija”, “Siena”, and “Delfi”, which showed systematic cash payments to “Nemuno aušra” from R. Puchovičius’s close associates and partners, although the party’s vice-chairman denied this.
According to journalists, at least 13,500 euros of such party funding came in cash, and 4,000 euros were transfers from R. Puchovičius to relatives.
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