The Court of Appeal of Lithuania overturned the acquittal of the former director of the J. Lankutis Public Library of the Klaipėda district municipality Indra Tamašauskiene and found her guilty. 7.5 thousand was allocated to I. Tamašauskienei. EUR fine.
Persuaded to hand over part of the bonus
I. Tamašauskienė was on trial for abuse in accordance with Article 228, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code.
I. Tamašauskienė was accused of abusing her official position and exceeding her authority in pursuit of financial gain for herself as a person equivalent to a civil servant.
The ruling of the Court of Appeal states that I. Tamašauskienė was accused of not having the right to award a bonus to herself, deliberately taking advantage of her current duties and official position, and in the interests of the service, she decided to award larger bonuses to three employees subordinate to her than was intended.
The verdict stated that I. Tamašauskienė, implementing this idea, persuaded the head of one library department to hand over part of the planned bonus to her, as well as to collect and hand over to her part of the planned bonuses from the chief librarian and the chief accountant.
They demanded a higher fine
Last August, the Klaipėda District Court acquitted I. Tamašauskienė.
However, prosecutors appealed this decision to a higher court.
Prosecutor of the Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Department of the Klaipėda District Prosecutor’s Office Jevgenijus Michailovskis asked the Court of Appeal to impose a fine of 200 MGL (10 thousand euros) on I. Tamašauskiene.
The Court of Appeal partially satisfied the complaint – awarded I. Tamašauskienei 7.5 thousand. euros.
And he made a decision to award damages of 150 euros to the administration of the municipality of Klaipėda district.
The panel of judges of the Court of Appeal emphasized in the verdict that due to such intentional selfish actions, the institution itself – the library – suffered great damage. The name of the library was discredited in the eyes of the employees of this institution and the Klaipėda district municipality, the institution’s founder.
“The panel of judges decides that the totality of the data collected in the case and examined in the court of first instance, contrary to what the court of first instance stated, by complementing each other form an integrated logical chain of data confirming that I. Tamašauskienė abused her official position in pursuit of financial gain”, – says the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
He was threatened with up to 7 years of imprisonment
The panel of judges found that I. Tamašauskienė, acting with direct intent, committed a criminal act classified as a serious crime.
The penalty for committing the crime provided for in Article 228, Part 2 of the Criminal Code is a fine or imprisonment for up to seven years.
I am shocked.
The panel of judges did not find any mitigating or aggravating circumstances for the former director.
I. Tamašauskienė has not been convicted before, she was punished for administrative offenses related to violations of traffic rules, as well as an offense related to the maintenance of a plot of land.
“It was concluded that I. Tamašauskienė, by abusing her official position, caused significant non-pecuniary damage. Therefore, this criminal act of hers entails criminal liability,” the verdict reads.
The court rejected requests for state funds to pay the expenses incurred by the convicted person for the services of a lawyer.
Litigation for dismissal
I. Tamašauskienė was dismissed from the position of head of the J. Lankutis library when she lost the trust of Klaipėda district mayor Broniaus Markauskas.
The employer of the library director is the municipality of Klaipėda district, she is represented by the mayor.
The scandal arose because I. Tamašauskienė was caught driving home in the library’s official car, even on vacation.
I. Tamašauskienė, who was dismissed, appealed to the court and demanded her reinstatement and payment of the unpaid salary.
However, the panel of judges of the Klaipėda District Court stated that I. Tamašauskienė was legally dismissed from her position.
“Klaipėda” wrote to I. Tamašauskienė for a comment. She was asked whether she would appeal the Court of Appeal’s verdict.
“I am shocked. I have not yet had the opportunity to get acquainted with the documents consistently, after evaluating them and consulting with a lawyer I will make a decision”, answered I. Tamašauskienė.
