A-60-meter-high tower, owned by mobile phone company Bitė Lietuva, was built in the village in the summer of 2008. Local residents were angered as the construction had not been agreed with them, despite local officials assuring protesting people the company had all necessary permits for the construction.
The community turned to Seimas Ombudsman, and the Prosecutor General's Office and the Special Investigation Service were also involved in the battle. Following a marathon of court hearings, the Supreme Court issued a final and non-appealable ruling that the tower was built illegally and should be dismantled.
"Only after prosecutors got involved in this, everything turned in the right direction. A pre-trial investigation into official misuse of power is still underway," Regina Stasiuvienė, member of the Puskelniai community, said.
The tower was dismantled in a couple of weeks, and Bitė Lietuva replaced it with a mobile phone base station on wheels to prevent connection disruptions in the village and the section of the Via Baltica highway passing the village.
