The prosecutor’s appeal requested to annul the Kaunas District Court verdict of April 10, 2025, in part regarding acquittal, and to find the currently temporarily suspended Lithuanian Court of Appeal judge V. Kažys guilty of bribery (Criminal Code (CC) Article 225, Part 3) and to impose a 3-year imprisonment sentence. The appeal also requested to find former Vilnius District Court judge H. Jaglinskis guilty of illegal enrichment (CC Article 189-1, Part 1) and to impose a fine of 7,500 euros.
After reviewing the criminal case on appeal, the Lithuanian Court of Appeal upheld the prosecutor’s appeal and found V. Kažys guilty of bribery, and H. Jaglinskis guilty of illegal enrichment. The court imposed a fine of 12,500 euros on V. Kažys, a fine of 5,000 euros on H. Jaglinskis for unjustified enrichment, and a combined fine of 55,000 euros along with confiscation exceeding 50,000 euros.
We remind that in this case charges were brought against sixteen individuals and one company. Among them, five defendants are former or currently temporarily suspended judges, the mayor of Druskininkai municipality, one legal entity, and other private individuals.
By the first instance court verdict, some of the accused were found guilty of acting as accomplices, others in an organized group.
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By the mentioned verdict, two persons out of sixteen were fully acquitted of the criminal acts attributed to them.
This high-profile pre-trial investigation was organized and the state prosecution in courts was maintained by prosecutors of the Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Department of the General Prosecutor’s Office. The investigation was conducted by officers of the Special Investigation Service and the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau. The pre-trial investigation into the circumstances of the criminal acts examined in this case was initiated in the autumn of 2018.
