„The community trusts the chairman, and we do not foresee any sudden changes, at least for now,“ Sinkevičius told ELTA.
„He is the chairman elected by our community and has the community's trust. (...) We have a scheduled board meeting on February 23, which we planned a long time ago. This issue will undoubtedly be discussed. From what I have heard, no one wants any sudden decisions,“ he emphasised.
According to Sinkevičius, the Democratic community does not tolerate corruption, but the politician emphasises that no allegations have been made against Skvernelis.
„They took certain actions, but we are sticking to the facts that no allegations have been made against the party chairman. The wording that actions were taken and searches conducted to clarify the circumstances—we respect the officials' work. The position of the community and the party in any case of corruption remains the same, unchanged – zero tolerance,“ said the politician.
„We must remain factually correct. No charges have been brought against the party chairman,“ he added.
In Sinkevičius's opinion, this situation is most painful not for the party but for Skvernelis himself.
„This is a situation that affects Saulius Skvernelis the most and is most painful for him personally. We are not talking about an ordinary Lithuanian politician. This is a man who has always valued his reputation. When he talks about damage (to the party – ELTA), he understands perfectly well that the public will interpret the searches carried out as a court verdict,“ said the party's vice-chairman.
„Saulius Skvernelis himself said yesterday that he will cooperate fully with the authorities, will not evade any questions, and will not hide behind his immunity as a member of the Seimas,“ he emphasised.
However, on Monday, it was reported that Arūnas Burkšas, a member of the Neringa Municipal Council, had suspended his membership in the Democratic Union Vardan Lietuvos and the municipal Democratic faction. The politician himself did not comment on whether this decision was related to the ongoing searches in Vilnius.
For his part, Sinkevičius claims that he did not even know this former party member.
„I don't even know that party member. We are talking about a person from Neringa. I don't even know him. However, there are more than 3,000 (members – ELTA) in the community,“ said the politician.
The party also expressed its support
The official Facebook page of the Democratic Union Vardan Lietuvos also states that Skvernelis has never given any reason to doubt him.
„Therefore, the Democratic community expresses its trust and support for its party chairman,“ the post says.
„After yesterday's media reports about the actions taken by law enforcement, various preliminary assessments have been made public. No charges have been brought against Skvernelis,“ the Democrats emphasise.
As announced, the STT conducted searches in the Seimas on Monday as part of its investigation into a large-scale corruption case.
Seimas Chairman Juozas Olekas confirmed that officials carried out procedural actions in the offices of Skvernelis, leader of the Democratic Union Vardan Lietuvos, and conservative Kazys Starkevičius.
Later, Artūras Urbelis, a prosecutor at the Prosecutor General's Office, confirmed that searches were also carried out on Monday at the residences of the aforementioned parliamentarians. According to him, the searches were carried out as part of a pre-trial investigation to verify the theory that the alleged corrupt activities may have been linked to political favouritism.
Both Starkevičius and Skvernelis will be questioned as special witnesses.
The Democratic leader told reporters on Monday that he was calm and claimed he had not done anything criminal. For his part, Starkevičius announced that he was temporarily suspending his membership in the TS-LKD.
ELTA recalls that in December last year, during an investigation into large-scale corruption at the State Plant Service, officials detained 13 people.
On Monday, prosecutor Urbelis confirmed that the number of suspects in this investigation had increased to 14.
When asked whether one of the suspects was Marjanas Taraškevičius, who had previously been convicted of cigarette smuggling, Urbelis said he could neither confirm nor deny this information.
As previously announced by law enforcement, according to data from the pre-trial investigation, representatives of companies transporting plants and plant products were systematically required to pay. They did pay large bribes to obtain phytosanitary certificates issued by the State Plant Service for the transport of these goods.
Among the suspects are Jurijus Kornijenka, Director of the State Plant Service, who has now been suspended from his duties; his deputy, Mantas Butas; advisor Agnė Silickienė; Giedrius Urbelionis, Head of the Alytus regional branch; and Dalia Šubonienė, acting Head of the Kaunas regional branch.
They have been charged with bribery as part of an organised group. Seven private company executives and related individuals have also been charged with bribery, corruption, and influence peddling in an organised group.
During more than 100 searches, over EUR 1.3 million in cash and 8 kilograms of gold worth approximately EUR 1 million were seized, and 11,000 packs of cigarettes, 14,000 litres of alcohol, cocaine, and explosives were also found.