The search produced a few dozen thousand litas that the authorities suspect were received as a bribe, the service said on Wednesday.
Agents suspect the bribe could have been given in hopes of a favorable ruling in one trial on criminal charges.
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| vat.lt nuotr./Ryšardas Skirtunas |
"There was this thing. Of course, it was a surprise. As a judge, he did a good job, no complaints have ever been filed in connection to his work," Viktoras Dovidaitis, chairman of the Criminal Cases Division at the court, told BNS.
After the search, Skirtunas has asked for an unpaid holiday until Friday, saying he could not hear any cases until the situation is resolved.
Skirtunas, 51, took the position at the Vilnius district court in 2005-2006 after working at another court in the Lithuanian capital.
One of the detained lawyers and a citizen were detained for 48 hours. Another lawyer has already been released. A decision on further detention will be made by the prosecutor who is in charge of the investigation.
Later on Wednesday, a decision will be made on asking the parliament to strip the judge of his legal immunity.
Blow to entire judicial system
Lithuania's Judicial Council chairman Gintaras Kryževičius says that the corruption scandal at the Vilnius Regional Court delivered a strike to the entire judicial system.
"This does not do any honor, however (…), if it is true, it will deliver yet another strike to the judicial system," Kryževičius, president of the Supreme Court, told BNS on Wednesday.
"So far, I have not received any information from any institution as the chairman of the Judicial Council, therefore, I cannot provide further comment," he said.
Kryževičius noted that cancellation of immunity of the judge should be decided by the parliament.
"As far as I know, the pre-trial investigation has been started, there are certain suspicions of crimes, and this leads to very clear legal consequences. If specific prosecution actions are taken with regard to the individual – the judge – we would have to appeal to the parliament for cancellation of immunity," he explained.
