The LSDP Council meeting, held at a hotel near Vilnius, was closed to the public, and journalists were not allowed to attend.
However, the public was allowed to observe the very beginning of the meeting. In his opening remarks, interim party chairman Sinkevičius apologised to his colleagues for the fact that they were somewhat „exposed“—this time, politicians were not allowed to bring their phones into the room where the discussions were taking place. This was done to avoid the „ears“ of journalists.
However, after the media representatives were asked to leave the room, a strange pen was spotted there.
Susiję straipsniai
„We were actually having a closed-door meeting between council members of the party council, which has over 200 members. We wanted to talk openly and discreetly, without the media’s ‘eyes’ and ‘ears,’ because we were discussing various topics relevant to the party’s affairs. We wanted to talk openly and discreetly.
Since it has become common for information from our discussions to be leaked to the media very quickly afterwards, this time we agreed not to use recording equipment inside the meeting. But right as our meeting began, a writing device—a pen or a marker—was found, equipped with recording gear, a voice recorder. I believe it was left there intentionally. Some people saw it and suspect who might have left this device.
I’m not claiming this is a verified fact yet; we’ll likely investigate and clarify it a bit later, but it seems this was an item left behind by one of the female journalists attending our meeting. „Perhaps not by accident, perhaps even on purpose—there will likely be different versions of this,“ Sinkevičius said on Friday during the Nauja Diena program on Lietuvos Rytas TV.
The interim chairman of the Social Democrats is preparing to file a report with the police regarding this situation.
„A complaint is currently being prepared to be filed with the police to initiate an investigation and verify whether this was done intentionally or if recordings were made. The country’s top leaders attended the meeting—the prime minister and the Seimas speaker. It is possible that attempts were made to illegally record conversations, including those of party members and state leaders.
„This raises questions regarding responsibility, legal liability, and if the information is confirmed, that this is the work of a journalist, ethical issues are likely not the least of them,“ he noted.
Sinkevičius did not want to reveal which specific journalist he was referring to, but hinted that she likely works for LRT.
„There are people who saw it, who will likely be able to testify about who was closest to this location and who may have left this device for us. We’ll get to the bottom of everything; there are legal measures for that, as well as opportunities to contact law enforcement and clarify the circumstances. I think the hotel administration might help too, since there are probably security cameras. It’ll take a little time, but we’ll figure it all out,“ the politician assured.
„A shadow is falling on our public national broadcaster—LRT journalists. But let’s wait and see if this is true. I don’t want to speculate on the facts, so in this conversation, I’m saying it’s possible. Time will tell,“ he added.