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<\/a><\/p>\nRemigijus Zemaitaitis, leader of the Dawn of the Nemunas Nemuno Ausra, attends a press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, Oct. 28, 2024. (Alfredas Pliadis\/Xinhua via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In her decision, Judge Nida Vigelien\u0117 said that \u017demaitaitis had \u201cpublicly mocked, demeaned and encouraged hatred\u201d toward Jews as well as \u201cgrossly minimised the Holocaust carried out by Nazi Germany on Lithuania\u2019s territory in an offensive and insulting manner,\u201d according to the Lithuanian public service broadcaster LRT.<\/p>\n
\u017demaitaitis\u2019 conviction was related to statements he had issued in May and June of 2023, including social media posts, a speech delivered in Parliament and an exchange with a journalist, in which he falsely accused Jews of killing Lithuanians.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long will our politicians continue to kneel to the Jews who killed our countrymen, contributed to the persecution, torture and destruction of Lithuanians,\u201d wrote \u017demaitaitis in all-caps, according to the country\u2019s constitutional court. \u201cThere was a Holocaust of the Jews, but an even greater Holocaust of Lithuanians was in Lithuania!\u201d<\/p>\n
In other posts, \u017demaitaitis also baselessly blamed Jews for the 1944 Nazi massacres in the Lithuanian villages of Pir\u010diupiai and Kaniukai.<\/p>\n
The ruling Thursday was not the first time that a Lithuanian lawmaker has come under fire for Holocaust distortion. In 2021, Valdas Rakutis, a member of Lithuania\u2019s parliament, was criticized by the U.S. ambassador to Lithuania for claiming in a speech that there was \u201cno shortage of Holocaust perpetrators among the Jews themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
In another post about the demolition of a school building in the West Bank, \u017demaitaitis quoted an antisemitic nursery rhyme that encourages children to kill a wounded Jew.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to give you a chance, dear Jews of Israel, to apologize to Palestine and the EU for your disgusting actions in a foreign country,\u201d he wrote. \u201cAnd I will repeat, \u2018After such events, it is no wonder why such sayings are born: A Jew climbed a ladder and fell by accident. Take a stick, children, and kill that Jew.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawmaker, who frequently posts about the war in Gaza on social media, resigned from Lithuania\u2019s parliament in April 2024 after the country\u2019s constitutional court found his rhetoric had violated his oath and its constitution.<\/p>\n
But he was reelected in October 2024 and his party joined the country\u2019s new coalition government led by the Social Democrats.<\/p>\n
\u017demaitaitis and his lawyer were not present during the ruling Thursday in Vilnius and are expected to seek an appeal. He told reporters after the ruling that \u201ceverybody understands that this is a politicized decision,\u201d according to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny form of antisemitism, hate speech, or Holocaust belittling is unacceptable to us and incompatible with our values,\u201d wrote the Social Democrats party in a post on Facebook following the ruling. \u201cWe respect the decision of the court. Together we point out that this decision is not yet final.\u201d<\/p>\n