Based on the data published by website kgbveikla.lt, Matonis worked for the Soviet security structure in the Lithuanian ethnographic region of Dzūkija, southwestern Lithuania. His name is on the list of KGB cadre staff of the resort of Druskininkai. He worked as the KGB's authorized representative in Druskininkai District.
Minister of the Interior Artūras Melianas says he was not informed about the past of the head of the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau.
Terese Birutė Burauskaitė, director general of the Genocide and Resistance Research Center of Lithuania, paid attention to the fact that Matonis was appointed head of the Criminal Police Bureau in 2005 when working restrictions for ex-KGB staff, introduced in 1999, were still in place.
The Police Department told delfi.lt this officer was exempt from the restrictions based on a court ruling.
"Police heads believe that this officer's merits to the state in cracking down on the world of organized crime are undeniable and appreciated on numerous occasions, therefore, the police are proud to have an officer who's done so much for the State of Lithuania among their forces," the Police Department said.
Matonis himself confirmed the fact that he worked for the KGB but, he stressed, he was not involved in any activities the Soviet structure is infamous for.
"I was a newcomer at that time. I worked as a lawyer, as much, I believe, as I could. And I did not make any illegal or wrong steps," he said.
