The court resumed the case hearing on Thursday and started reading volume 59.
As of Thursday, the Labor Party is represented by a new lawyer, after Vlademaras Bužinskas, the previous attorney, stepped down due to conflict of interests.
Vladimir Buslovič was appointed the new representative of the Labor Party, after the court received a written authorization from the party on January 8.
The hearing was adjourned in December until parliament voted to allow prosecuting MPs Viktor Uspaskich, Vytautas Gapšys, and Vitalija Vonžutaitė, three of the four defendants in the case. Parliament stripped the three MPs of their legal immunity on December 20.
Uspaskich, who is the leader of the party, Gapšys, and Vonžutaitė are standing trial in Vilnius Regional Court for organizing fraudulent bookkeeping while holding executive positions in the party between 2004 and 2006. In addition to the three MPs, charges were brought against the Labor Party and its former accountant Marina Liutkevičienė.
Prosecutors say the Labour Party's financial documentation for the period 2004-2006 failed to include about LTL 25 million (EUR 7.3 million) in income and about LTL 23 million in spending related to assets, commitments, and structural changes. The party also allegedly failed to pay around LTL 4 million in taxes.
Uspaskich strongly denies all charges and says the case against him is politically motivated.
