The Vilnius District Court found European Parliament (EP) member Petras Gražulis guilty of showing disrespect toward the LGBT+ community and fined him 10,000 euros

On Tuesday, the Vilnius District Court found European Parliament (EP) member Petras Gražulis guilty of showing disrespect toward the LGBT+ community and fined him 10,000 euros.

“The court found that the statements he used regarding minorities in the parliament premises were unacceptable and impermissible, especially given the place and manner in which they were made,” said Judge Audrius Cininas.

The charges stemmed from Gražulis’s “offensive” statements made in 2022 in the premises of the Lithuanian Seimas, where he used derogatory language toward sexual minorities. The court ruled that such statements are “unacceptable and impermissible” in the public sphere, based on the Lithuanian Criminal Code (concerning incitement to hatred and discrimination) and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Discriminatory statements were not considered protected by freedom of speech.

Prosecution’s stance: Prosecutor Jurgita Jakučionė from the General Prosecutor’s Office demanded exactly this fine—10,000 euros—emphasizing that Gražulis’s words were blatantly offensive and humiliating.

The court also granted the victims’ claims for compensation for moral damages, ordering Gražulis to pay:

• 2,000 euros to Mantas Meškėrius,

• 3,000 euros to Mantas Mackevičius,

• 284 euros to Rasma Račienė.
  He is also required to reimburse the victims’ legal costs.

Gražulis does not admit his guilt. After the court session, he announced that he would appeal the verdict and even reach out to U.S. President Donald Trump, considering the ruling politically motivated.

Gražulis was charged with publicly expressing disrespect toward a group of people based on their sexual orientation on May 26, 2022, following a Seimas session discussing a bill on recognizing same-sex couples.

After leaving the plenary session hall and encountering several LGBT+ community representatives, Gražulis called them “degenerates” who spread sexually transmitted diseases and said they should seek treatment.

Evidence collected during the investigation indicates that Gražulis acted with direct intent, knowing his statements would be recorded, broadcast, and reported in the media.

The legal proceedings were suspended in July 2024 after Gražulis was elected to the EP and gained immunity from criminal prosecution.

Following a request from Lithuania’s General Prosecutor Nida Grunskienė, the EP lifted his immunity in May this year.

It was previously reported that in 2023, the Constitutional Court ruled that Gražulis had violated the Constitution and his parliamentary oath by deliberately voting on behalf of another Seimas member without their knowledge. Based on this ruling, his Seimas mandate was revoked in December through an impeachment procedure.

Previously, a court had found Gražulis guilty in a corruption case related to actions in the interests of the frozen food manufacturer “Judex.”

The 66-year-old Gražulis is the chairman of the right-wing populist, Euroskeptic party “People and Justice Union.”

In 2019, Petras Gražulis was one of the political campaign participants registered by Lithuania’s Central Electoral Commission for the presidential election:

• the current Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, nominated by the ruling Greens and Peasants Union,

• Seimas member Ingrida Šimonytė, the candidate of the opposition Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats,

• economist Gitanas Nausėda,

• philosopher and one of the founders of Lithuania’s national revival movement “Sąjūdis,” Arvidas Juozaitis,

• Seimas members Naglis Puteikis, Mindaugas Puidokas, and Petras Gražulis,

• European Parliament members Petras Auštrevičius, Valentinas Mazuronis, and Valdemaras Tomaševskis,

• the EU’s delegated Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis,

• former president of the Lithuanian Ice Hockey Federation Vitautas Gudiškis,

• as well as three lesser-known candidates—Alfonsas Butė and Kazimiras Juraitis, who had previously run for the Seimas, and Tomas Šimaitis, who had not been active in politics before.

Gražulis is a conservative politician known for defending traditional values and criticizing LGBT+ rights. He was elected to the European Parliament in 2024, representing the People and Justice Union.

Interestingly, a search on X (formerly Twitter) did not reveal recent posts on this topic, but news portals (e.g., 15min.lt, Delfi.lt, tv3.lt) extensively cover this ruling.