In his speech on Wednesday, Uspaskich said he might feel guilty only because he failed to pay enough attention while being a politician to prevent persecution of people with different opinions and added that the state failed to follow the presumption of innocence.
The Labor Party leader kept on repeating that charges brought against him constituted political persecution. He claimed to have invited disaster by entering politics with a new party which won elections and pushed power-hungry parties aside.
"There's not a single document in the 160 volumes in this case, which I created. There's not a single piece of evidence to prove that I told to forge accounting books. There's no operational material created under my activity or work. What benefit could I seek by hiding revenues and expenses? None. I came to Lithuania, built a business and had a family. I have become a strong opponent who does not tolerate bureaucrats," Uspaskich said in court on Wednesday.
The Labor Party is on trial for failing to include more than 24 million litas (EUR 6.9m) in income and 23 million litas in spending in its books in the 2004-2006 period. Charges have been brought against its leader Uspaskich, his deputy Vytautas Gapšys, MP Vitalija Vonžutaitė, and the party's former accountant Marina Liutkevičienė.
