Top court: Parliament's LRT probe panel breached Constitution

The Seimas of Lithuania breached the country's Constitution when it established a special commission to investigate activity of the public broadcaster LRT, the Constitutional Court has ruled on Thursday.

The Court said such a commission's establishment violated the Constitution's article on the freedom of speech.

The special parliamentary commission was established in early 2018 to look into the LRT's financial and economic activity and concluded that it identified public procurement violations made under the public broadcaster's former management.

The panel also recommended changing the LRT's management model, establishing a new LRT board, changing the procedure for appointing council members, shortening councilors' term from six to five years etc.

The Seimas, however, failed to approve the conclusions, with the opposition saying that the ruling parties wanted to politicize and seize control of the national broadcaster.