Will the “Lithuania-lover” be punished?

Mantas Malūkas, son of a famous Lithuanian writer Edmundas Malūkas, is going to have problems with the police – the portal Delfi informs. He is suspected of the destruction of another’s personal property, which is punishable by a penalty of one hundred up to three hundred Litas. A few months ago, Mantas Malūkas appeared in a controversial reality show “Aš myliu Lietuva” (“I Love Lithuania”), broadcast by the Lithuanian television station, LNK TV. In one of the programs, the son of the famous writer tore a bilingual (Lithuanian-Polish) street plate off one of the houses in Eišiškės.

The scandal of tearing of bilingual plates in the Lithuanian reality show got a lot of publicity both in the Polish and Lithuanian media. Polish sponsors of the show – Reserved company and PZU Group, being cross-examined by journalists, had to withdraw from the sponsorship of the controversial show. In turn, Just TV, the producer of the show, along with LNK TV, which broadcast it, were forced to make a public apology. 

However, the apology did not satisfy the residents of Eišiškės. Several of them, with the starosta of Eišiškės, Tadeusz Zimiński, at their head, reported the act of damaging another’s property to the police.

As the, temporarily acting Commissioner of Police of Šalčininkai Region, Jurijus Stanulevičius, said in an interview with “Wilnoteka”, the information on the alleged offense came in a few days after the shooting. In the course of the investigation it was found, that on 24 May, about 1 p.m., Mantas Malūkas arbitrarily removed the plate with a bilingual inscription “Vytauto g.2, Ulica Witolda 2”. Then, he handed the plate over to another participant of the reality show, who, in turn, bent it in half and placed it back to the wall of the building, so that the Polish name of the street was covered.

Malūkas, suspected of damaging another’s property claims that he is not guilty, and the case has a political tinge. He told the journalists of Delfi that “there was no arbitrary act, because the property owner gave his permission to remove the plate and hang it back on the wall after the shooting.”

The information gathered by the police has been passed on to the District Court of Šalčininkai Region which is currently dealing with the case. In the case Malūkas is found guilty, he will be levied with a penalty of one hundred up to three hundred Litas. Moreover, he will have to cover the cost of purchasing a new street plate – 40 Litas.

Based on: delfi.lt own information.

http://www.wilnoteka.lt/pl/artykul/quotkochajacego-litwequot-obarczy-sie-kara

Tłumaczenie: Eliza Łuszczewska, w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Czlowieka, www.efhr.eu Translation by Eliza Łuszczewska, as part of vocational training in The European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu

Korekta Małgorzata Juchniewicz w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu