In a press release, the prosecutor general said that “giving thorough answers to politicians is currently inconsistent with the interests of ongoing pre-trial investigations”.
“Although I see cooperation with the parliament on various legislative and prosecution issues as highly important and beneficial, in this case I am forced to reject the invitation to take part in the group meeting. One of the reasons is the ongoing investigations, which I would only be able to speak about to the extent that has been discussed in public,” Pašilis said on Wednesday.
The Social Democrats’ political group had summoned Pašilis to its Wednesday meeting, which should have also been attended by Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius and Defence Minister Juozas Olekas.
The officials were invited amid the scandal after the Public Procurement Service said on Tuesday that the army had bought various types of kitchen utensils at a price that was eight times above the market value. Defence Minister Juozas Olekas said that the ministry had turned to the Prosecutor General’s Office immediately after getting doubts about the prices, with a request to open an investigation, but prosecutors later dropped the probe.
Olekas said the Defence Ministry had taken the decision to court on August 17. Later on Tuesday, the Prosecutor General’s Office said it had opened an investigation into abuse of powers.
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