Remigijus Merkevičius, associate professor of the Faculty of Law of Vilnius University (VU), lawyer, expert in criminal law, assures that it is not necessary.
According to the lawyer, although it is possible that this is exactly what the ex-parliamentarian is aiming for, his fate will basically be determined by the set of further circumstances.
Confession alone will not be enough?
As the portal announced on Wednesday, citing sources 15 minutesformer Minister of Agriculture K. Starkevičius up to 20 thousand. Danielis Krinickis, a businessman associated with the former head of VAT, Yuriys Kornijenko, handed over EUR in cash last October.
The envelope with the money was possibly left in the Seimas dormitory. 15 minutes according to sources, the politician brought the money to the investigators himself.
Criminal law expert R. Merkevičius for the portal Morning explained on Wednesday that by confessing, K. Starkevičius is most likely trying to avoid imprisonment, which he is facing.
However, whether such a move by him can change something in his case is still a question.
“It is difficult to say whether it is possible or not – here one should look at the totality of all the circumstances, but according to the law, the confession is a mitigating circumstance, it is natural that it will have an impact on a slightly lighter sentence,” the lawyer taught.
Will this save the conservative from possible imprisonment?
“Everything can happen in life, but from my point of view, it is not enough,” stated R. Merkevičius.
When asked what set of circumstances would really help to receive a lighter sentence, the criminal law expert emphasized that there is no single correct recipe here.
“The circumstances must be such as to show that the committed behavior is significantly less dangerous according to the law, and the personality is significantly less dangerous, than that imprisonment could be imposed under that article.”
Because there is a threat of imprisonment under that article. These should be significantly better circumstances”, said R. Merkevičius.
True, it seems that the time when the suspect confesses can theoretically influence the further course of the case.
“Theoretically yes, in practice it is a very difficult situation. Theoretically, it is said as follows: if a person confesses under the pressure of evidence or when he realizes that there is so much evidence that there is no point in not confessing, whether you confess or not – the fact is still proven, in this case the confession no longer has any meaning.
But the Lithuanian practice is the most diverse – they turn the situation however they want. It is possible to confess before the trial, it is possible – in court, even in some cases – in the appeal process, and this is seen as a good fact.
Practice is very far from theory in this place”, said R. Merkevičius.
So confessing to wrongdoing is basically goodwill, but whether it really helps is not yet clear.
“If we apply the law as it is written and what its true meaning is, it is certainly not a lifeline. And it should not be a lifeline,” concluded the criminal law expert.
what happened
Prosecutor General Nida Grunskienė stated that K. Starkevičius was charged with bribery in accordance with Article 225, Part 3 of the Criminal Code.
The mentioned article provides that a civil servant or a person equivalent to him, who directly or indirectly promised or agreed to accept or demanded or provoked to give, or accepted a bribe worth more than 250 MGL for legal or illegal action or failure to act in the exercise of his powers, directly or indirectly by himself or through an intermediary, shall be punished by imprisonment from two to eight years. 250 MGL is equal to 12.5 thousand. euros.
Suspicions regarding bribery in the corruption case of the Plantation Service were also recently brought against MP Saulis Skvernelis, the Special Investigation Service (STT) and the General Prosecutor’s Office announced.
“The data collected by the STT officials allow us to reasonably suspect that S. Skvernelis, as a civil servant, a member of the Seimas, agreed to accept through an intermediary from January to November 2025, and on several occasions accepted a bribe of at least 51,000 euros in cash. The bribes were possibly given in order to favor the interested parties,” announced the STT.
“It is suspected that S. Skvernelis possibly knew that the illegal monetary reward would be paid to him from the illegal income obtained during the bribery of accomplices in the criminal act,” the report added.
We would like to remind you that last December, while investigating extremely large-scale corruption in VAT, the officers arrested a total of 13 persons. According to the prosecutor’s office, the number of suspects later increased to 15 persons.
According to law enforcement, based on the data collected during the investigation, high-value bribes were systematically demanded and received from representatives of companies transporting plants and plant products for the phytosanitary certificates issued to cargo carriers by VAT.
Already at that time, suspended head of VAT J. Kornijenko, his deputy Mantas Butas, advisor Agnė Silickienė, head of the Alytus regional department Giedrius Urbelionis and temporary head of the Kaunas regional department Dalia Šubonienė were named as suspects.
A. Silickienė is the former advisor of Saulius Skvernelis, former member of the Chief Election Commission, former chancellor of the Vilnius District Court.
More than 1.3 million items were seized during more than 100 searches. EUR in cash, 8 kilograms of gold worth about 1 million. euros, 11 thousand were also found. packs of cigarettes, 14 thousand liters of alcohol, cocaine and explosives.
In February, the houses and offices of parliamentarians S. Skvernelis and K. Starkevičius were searched.
K. Starkevičius was a long-time member of the Seimas, he worked in the parliament since 2004. An ex-politician with a legal education has worked in the Kaunas City Municipal Council, was the first deputy mayor, the head of Kaunas County, in his public biography K. Starkevičius also announced that he was a participant in Sąjūdis.
