On February 8, 2018, the Lithuanian Jewish Community learned Vigilijus Sadauskas, the academic ethics and procedures inspector for the Republic of Lithuania, possibly in a conflict of private and public interest, presented an invitation on his webpage to collect information “on people of Jewish ethnicity who contributed to deportations and torture,” for which a monetary prize was announced.

Based on the European Parliament’s resolution of July 1, 2017, adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism, one form of anti-Semitism is a blanket accusation made against all Jews as a people, that we are responsible for a real or imagined transgression committed by an individual Jew or group of Jews, or even responsible for acts committed by non-Jews. Based on this definition and article 170, section 2 of the Lithuanian criminal code, Sadauskas’s internet post is anti-Semitic, causing ethnic discord, and must be judged correspondingly.

The LJC supports the initiative by members of parliament on a statement of no-confidence in academic ethics and procedures inspector Vigilijus Sadauskas and thanks speaker of Lithuanian parliament Viktoras Pranckietis for his understanding of the situation and call for the aforementioned person to resign from his post.

The LJC finds the actions by Vigilijus Sadauskas in violation of public service ethics and basic principles, and in violation of law, and therefore the LJC is considering taking the matter to the appropriate law enforcement institutions for initiating a pre-trial investigation into the actions by this person.