Lithuania’s Court of Appeal on Wednesday found lawmaker Remigijus Žemaitaitis guilty of inciting hatred against Jews and grossly trivialising the Holocaust, increasing his fine to 10,000 euros.
Žemaitaitis, leader of the Nemunas Dawn party, said he would appeal the ruling, accusing the court of making a political decision.
“It is a pity that political decisions are still prevalent in the courts,” Žemaitaitis told reporters. He said he would seek a new assessment of the evidence at the cassation stage.
The appeals court overturned part of an earlier ruling by the Vilnius Regional Court, which had fined Žemaitaitis 5,000 euros. Prosecutor Justas Laucius had sought a much larger penalty of 52,250 euros.
Presiding Judge Vitalija Norkūnaitė said Žemaitaitis had used public statements and social media posts to “grossly trivialise the genocide of the Jewish people, the Holocaust, and committed a continuous criminal offense”.
