A letter from the prosecutor of the Defense of the Public Interest Section of the Vilnius district Prosecutor Office has been posted on the webpage of the Lithuanian Prosecutor’s Office regarding complaints over the take-down of a plaque commemorating Jonas Noreika and the renaming of a street honoring Kazys Škirpa in Vilnius. Both men were complicit in Holocaust crimes during World War II.

Investigation Performed for the Defense of the Public Interest on the Removal of the Commemorative Plaque and the Renaming of the Alley in Vilnius

August 28, 2019

After considering statements by members of parliament Audronis Ažubalis and Laurynas Kasčiūnas, the Union of Volunteer Founders of the Lithuanian Military, the Lithuanian Defense of Human Rights Association and other parties on the possibly illegitimate removal of the plaque commemorating Jonas Noreika/General Storm from the outer wall of the Vrublevskiai Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and the renaming of K. Škirpa Alley, the Vilnius district Prosecutor’s Office adopted a decision to decline to apply measures for the defense of the public interest. In adopting this decision, the Prosecutor’s Office looked at information from the Vilnius municipality, the Lithuanian Cultural Heritage Department, the Lithuanian Government representative for the Vilnius and Alytus districts and other information pertinent to the investigation. This decision only presents a legal and not an historical assessment.

During consideration of statements, it was determined the procedure for the removal of memorial plaques is not regulated in law because binding legal acts don’t contain any special requirements for the taking down of memorial commemorative plaques. In the absence of specific legal regulation, correspondingly no violation of it can be determined. It was also determined that the city of Vilnius is the owner of the [Noreika] commemorative plaque, and likewise no indication was found of violations of legal acts regulating the management, use and disposal of municipal property.

“The whole of the circumstances outlined does not allow for the determination of a violation of the law in the removal of the [Noreika plaque] from the [Academy of Sciences], a violation which would qualify for the application of article 19, section 4 of the Lithuanian Law on Prosecution which provides measures for the defense of the public interest,” the finding and decision not to apply measures for the defense of the public interest said.

Regarding the Vilnius municipality’s decision to rename Kazys Škirpa Alley the new name of Tricolor Alley, the legality of this was already examined in consideration of a citizen’s statement [complaint] and on July 25 of this year the prosecutor of the Defense of the Public Interest Section of the Vilnius district Office of Prosecutor adopted a decision to decline application of measures for the protection of the public interest. It was determined that the Vilnius municipality in adopting its decision had adhered to basic procedures insuring an assessment of all circumstances [?] and had operated within the bounds of its competency, had not violated laws of superior power [?] and that without a violation of laws there was no basis for claiming a violation of the public interest.

It was also determined that the Lithuanian Government representative for the Vilnius and Alytus districts, who had received similar complaints and who had, as part of his area of competency, performed an assessment of the legality of the Vilnius city council’s decision to rename Kazys Škirpa Alley Tricolor Alley, had also found no violations of the requirements of law.

The finding by the prosecutor of the Defense of the Public Interest Section of the Vilnius district Prosecutor Office may be appealed to a higher prosecutor within thirty days of its receipt.

Full text in Lithuanian here.