Death of Vytautas Pociūnas Though the pejorative term
"valstybininkas" ("Statesman", meaning an official who belongs to a group of influential figures seeking personal gain) has been used in Lithuanian media since at least 2005, the conspiracy theory emerged after Vytautas Pociūnas, a VSD officer stationed in
Brest, Belarus, was found dead after falling out of the window of Hotel Intourist on 23 August 2006. The death was ruled an accident, but it was rumoured that Pociūnas was killed for his alleged investigations into a deep state within the Lithuanian government and institutions, and their anti-state activities. and after an
Ekstra magazine interview of VSD deputy director
Darius Jurgelevičius in September 2006, in which he commented on the public interest in the Pociūnas case: Numerous protests were held in support of Pociūnas and his surviving family, and the final annual commemoration of his death was held in 2016. The death was also followed by an investigation by the Seimas National Security and Defense Committee (Lithuanian:
Lietuvos Respublikos Seimo nacionalinio saugumo ir gynybos komitetas, NSGK) into VSD activity, initiated by Homeland Union Member of the Seimas Rasa Juknevičienė.
2006 Seimas investigation was one of the first Seimas members to demand a parliamentary investigation into VSD activities, which fuelled the conspiracy theory. The investigation was controversial. Januška resigned from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claiming that he is unable to answer public criticism while keeping state secrets, but was immediately reappointed as advisor to
Gediminas Kirkilas. NSGK members unsuccessfully demanded certificates from the VSD related to possible corrupt connections of high-ranking officials. Refused, the politicians turned to President
Valdas Adamkus hoping to convince him to temporarily suspend the then head of the VSD,
Arvydas Pocius, whose decision not to provide information was assessed as a mockery of the Seimas. However, the president refused to meet with members of the Seimas. During the investigation, independent journalists published information regarding the suspects' alleged membership in the
KGB and connections with the Russian state energy company
Gazprom. The term "statesmen" was originally claimed by the accused politicians and civil servants themselves, to express their patriotism.
Mečys Laurinkus commented on the existence of a group which "formulated tasks" for the State Security Department on 30 October 2007: This was taken by various politicians in the country to be a confirmation of the existence of the conspiracy, and Member of the Seimas
Algimantas Matulevičius (
Civic Democracy Party), in charge of a parliamentary investigation into VSD activity, described it as an unconstitutional act. Laurinkus later claimed that he does not remember the existence of such a scandal.
Renewed criminal investigation Vytautas Pociūnas' widow, Liudvika Pociūnienė, requested the reopening of the terminated investigation in November 2006, claiming that it lacked detail and was not impartial. She was joined by Member of the Seimas
Saulius Pečeliūnas (TS-LKD), who formed a nonpartisan civil society organization,
Rally of Citizens (Lithuanian:
Piliečių santalka), claiming to combat perceived cliques in the government and a "nomenklatura more powerful than the law". Both complaints were dismissed by the General Prosecutor's Office in July 2007 on lacking grounds. Pociūnienė received support throughout the political spectrum.
Vytautas Landsbergis, former leader of the Homeland Union, asserted that the conclusions of the prosecutor's office that Pociūnas died in an accident were "worthless", and the
New Union (Social Liberals) lodged a demand that the General Prosecutor's Office should make the materials of the investigation file public. On 17 August 2007, Prime Minister
Gediminas Kirkilas announced the formation of a special work committee which would investigate the circumstances of Pociūnas' death, led by publicist
Vytautas Ališauskas and staffed by Seimas and
European Parliament members from several political parties. New forensic and medical experts were hired after Pociūnas' widow and the press criticized the negligence of the forensic experts during the initial investigation. The renewed investigation was slow and controversial. It was criticized by President
Valdas Adamkus as a threat to the independence of the prosecution system. The committee could only meet in 2008 due to conflicting schedules of the committee members (including two EP members, who worked in
Brussels and could only participate on Fridays), and several of the committee's members resigned before the first meeting due to this inactivity. Meanwhile, at the order of court, the General Prosecutor's Office renewed investigation into the case, which doubled the work of the committee. It was shut down in March 2008. An independent investigation commission was organized by
Sąjūdis in July 2008.
Vygaudas Ušackas alleged that asking for Landsbergis's support to be selected as
Minister of Foreign Affairs in October 2008, he was requested to "eliminate the Statesmen element administered by Albinas Januška". On 24 February 2009, the case was closed again and the General Prosecutor's Office reaffirmed that Pociūnas' death was an accident. Liudvika Pociūnienė once again protested the verdict. Under court order, the case was also reclassified as a murder case. After investigations into official documents, over 100 witnesses questioned and experiments organized in the Inturist hotel in Brest, the case was closed as an accident again on 1 February 2013. Pociūnienė requested the case to be reopened again, but her request was dismissed.
2008 "List of the Statesmen" publication On 26 March 2008, an article titled "Lithuania Has Been Taken Over by the Statesmen Clan?" (Lithuanian:
"Lietuvą užvaldė „valstybininkų" klanas?") was published on the newspaper
Lietuvos žinios. This article compiled a list of 43 civil servants, diplomats, advisors of then-president Valdas Adamkus, VSD employees, businessmen, political scientists, and members of the Seimas, who were allegedly members of a single hierarchical structured "clan" which seeks to take over the state. In the same month, Mečys Laurinkus published an open letter for Vytautas Landsbergis, requesting him to use his authority to end "the idiotic persecution of some civil servants that has been going on for almost two years now". Laurinkus also asked the leadership of TS-LKD to mention a single crime committed by the alleged "statesmen". An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the formation of the Kirkilas Cabinet was proposed in the Seimas in 2008, but was voted down. Several parties vowed to destroy the conspiracy's perceived power in their electoral campaigns. Opponents of the perceived "statesmen" described themselves as "patriots" (Lithuanian:
"pilietininkai"). Both sides alleged that the other side was influenced or controlled by corporations and foreign interests - "statesmen" referred to the
holding company MG Baltic and chemical company
Achema, while "patriots" referred to Dujotekana and the business alliance "VP Ten", led by
Nerijus Numavičius. Both sides accused the other of collusion with Russia. The election was won by the Homeland Union, which was joined by the
Liberal and Centre Union, the
National Resurrection Party and the
Liberal Movement in a centre-right "Coalition for Change" (), which formed the
Kubilius Cabinet II.
"Hawks" counter-conspiracy In November 2008, VSD director Povilas Malakauskas informed the newly appointed Homeland Union prime minister
Andrius Kubilius of the existence of an alleged anti-state group called
"Hawks" (Lithuanian:
"vanagai"). "Hawks" were journalists and politicians affiliated with the political
right who were actively involved in the alleged "unmasking" of "statesmen" activity. Valdas Vasiliauskas, journalist
Tomas Čyvas,
Darius Kuolys (later founder of the
Lithuanian List),
Audrius Bačiulis,
Virgis Valentinavičius (advisor of Andrius Kubilius),
Vladas Laučius (chief editor of news portal
Alfa.lt, previously consultant for
MG Baltic Media) and others were alleged as members of this counter-conspiracy. Alleged members of this group claimed that this was a VSD attempt to control the media and influence politicians.
Edvardas Čiuldė claimed that "hawks" represented the interests of large media companies and were financed by the alcohol producer
Stumbras, owned by MG Baltic.
Election of Dalia Grybauskaitė Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of Lithuania from 2009 to 2019, won the
2009 Lithuanian presidential election with an anti-systemic platform and was supported by the Homeland Union. After her inauguration, several state officials implicated in the conspiracy theory were removed from office. In August 2009, in a controversial decree, she fired deputy director of the VSD Darius Jurgelevičius, while Mečys Laurinkus was accused of politicking in diplomatic service and recalled from the Lithuanian embassy in
Georgia in late 2009. Albinas Januška retired from politics in late 2008 to herd sheep in a farm near
Zarasai, but continued to unofficially advise politicians on state affairs. By late 2010, the Homeland Union dropped their interest in the "statesmen" conspiracy theory and ceased investigations in government institutions such as the VSD, although it was still maintained by independent "hawk" journalists, and the
Way of Courage party. According to declassified VSD information, officials allegedly a part of the "Statesmen" group (including Albinas Januška and Raimondas Lopata) attempted to appoint
Mindaugas Bastys as
Minister of Agriculture in the
Butkevičius Cabinet in 2012.
Revival In early 2023, the conspiracy theory was revived after the publication of the book "The Whistleblower and the President" (Lithuanian:
Pranešėjas ir prezidentas) by Dovydas Pancerovas and Birutė Davidonytė, which described alleged business and VSD involvement in the
Gitanas Nausėda campaign during the
2019 Lithuanian presidential election, including illegal collection of personal information. After the publication of the book, MPs of the
Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union alleged that the book was published to discredit the incumbent president and proposed an investigation into "statesmen" activity, but the proposal did not find support even among the opposition. Albinas Januška dismissed the allegations. ==Alleged members==