“The specific case at the Justice Ministry and the Prisons Department showed that the minister is not in her cup of tea, she is definitely not coping with her job and is demonstrating political disability,” the president told journalists on Monday.
She emphasized that “efforts against corruption in Lithuania cannot be selective – we cannot denounce and capture some and forgive others.”
The president spoke in response to a testimony by the Justice Ministry’s employee Rasa Kazėnienė about pressure possibly made by Justice Vice-Minister Raimondas Bakšys to the audit of the prisons system. The vice-minister categorically dismissed the accusations, however, stated he could not continue under the circumstances and submitted resignation earlier on Monday.
In a news conference last week, Kazėnienė said Bakšys had put a halt on her proposal to turn to the law-enforcement in the investigation in connection to the Pravieniskes penitentiary. Kazėnienė said the justice minister was present at the meeting where Bakšys silenced the initiative.
Skirmantas Malinauskas, anti-corruption adviser to Lithuania’s Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, had pledged to step down, if Baksys continued in the post.
Vainiutė said she would decide on her future in the post after meeting with the prime minister.