The top court upheld the ruling of the Vilnius Region Court to acquit all defendants in this case.
The court's judicial panel concluded that the court of the first instance was right to rule that prosecutors failed to prove that Vainauskas had offered (promised) a bribe and Paksas agreed to accept it.
The Supreme Court stated that the court of the first instance justly followed the universally accepted principle that all doubts and ambiguities should be explained for the benefit of the accused.
"A guilty verdict cannot be based on assumptions, and evidence that only allows assuming that a criminal act was carried out is insufficient to find the persons guilty and to issue a guilty verdict," the court ruled.
It also pointed out that the influence peddling element in the case – that Vainauskas offered a bribe of 15,000 euros and Paksas agreed to accept it – was based on a few recorded phrases from their conversation.
In April, 2020, Vilnius Regional Court ruled that the defendants did not commit acts that have elements of a crime or criminal misconduct.
Paksas, Vainauskas and Antanas Juozas Zabulis, a businessman also charged with influence peddling, denied any wrongdoing throughout the four-year process and asked to be cleared of all charges.
Prosecutors claimed Paksas, who was then the leader of the Order and Justice party, in 2015 allegedly agreed to accept a 15,000-euro bribe from Vainauskas in exchange for pressing construction inspectors to authorize the opening of a new Norfa retail store in Prienai, a town in southern Lithuania.
Vainauskas claimed he was carrying out a journalistic investigation, and Paksas said the case was aimed at forcing him out of politics.
The court of the first instance, Vilnius Regional Court, acquitted the three defendants, but the Court of Appeal found Paksas and Vainauskas guilty last October and issued a 3-year suspended sentence for Paksas, and also issued a fine of 26,300 euros for Vainauskas. Zabulis was acquitted.
Paksas and Vainauskas then appealed with the Supreme Court. The latter's ruling is final and binding.
Paksas was Lithuania's president in 2003-2004 before he was impeached and removed. He also served two terms as a member of the European Parliament in 2009-2019.