Lithuanian Politicians May Be Probed Over Leaflets
Lithuanian Politicians May Be Probed Over Leaflets
Lithuania’s central elections committee is reportedly probing two nationalist politicians for using allegedly anti-Semitic and Nazi imagery in elections material.
Marius Galinis’ campaign material for the Oct. 14 parliamentary elections features a black shirt and a Hindu swastika, according to the news site Delfi.
Unlike the Nazi symbol, the earlier Hindu sign faces right instead of left. Galinis denied the symbol was related to Nazism.
He is running for parliament as a candidate for the Coalition for Lithuania in Lithuania, a political movement made up of four nationalist parties.
In its Oct. 3 report, Delfi said that Julius Panka, another Coalition candidate, distributed leaflets featuring a caricature of a smiling ultra-Orthodox Jew boasting about receiving money from the Lithuanian government.
Delfi quotes Justinas Zilinskas, a member of the elections committee, as saying that the committee may demand that the Nationalists cease distribution of the materials, or else “refer the matter to law enforcement on grounds of ethnic persecution.”