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Lithuanian minister mired in legal affairs after admitting bribery

Xinhua, January 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

Rimante Salaseviciute, Lithuania's minister of health, became mired in the center of legal affairs on Thursday after publicly admitting she bribed a doctor a few years back.

The country's Special Investigation Service (STT) said it is analyzing the information and would take corresponding decisions as regards the minister's actions, ELTA news agency reported, citing Saulius Urbonavicius, director of STT.

"We have this information; thus, we analyze the situation, evaluate all disposable data and will make a corresponding decision," Urbonavicius told reporters after meeting with the country's President Dalia Grybauskaite. Lithuania's progress in fighting corruption was discussed during the meeting at presidency.

Salaseviciute, minister of health, fell into an embarrassing situation on Thursday after saying in an interview with a local broadcaster Ziniu Radijas that she made an informal payment, in Lithuania known as "envelope", to a doctor who was responsible for a surgery for Salaseviciute's relative.

"To be honest, maybe five or six years ago I myself gave an envelope (to a doctor) as one of my relatives flatly refused to undergo surgery unless the doctor is rewarded in advance; my efforts to discourage (the relative) did not work," Salaseviciute told the radio station.

"I did not even know how to do that, I was thinking whether I should put it between the papers or into the pocket," she added.

The minister specified later that the incident took place approximately ten years ago. During the period from 1995 to 2010, Salaseviciute served as an adviser to the Lithuanian Parliamentary (Seimas) Ombudsperson and later Seimas Ombudswoman at the Seimas Ombudsperson's Office of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as Ombudswoman for Children's Rights. She took over the duties of the minister of health in July 2014.

Dalia Grybauskaite, President of Lithuania, stressed that offering a bribe is a crime which should be addressed by justice, ELTA reported, referring to the Presidency press office's statement on the issue.

The minister, while introducing herself at the ministry's official website, encourages citizens to share the information about the cases of corruption and unsatisfactory work of health care institutions.

Health care sector is among the most corrupted in Lithuania. A European Commission survey in 2013 found that 21 percent of respondents in Lithuania had made informal payments to doctors, compared to an EU average of 5 percent.

Lithuania's Criminal Code foresees criminal charges not only against those who accept bribes but also against those offering a bribe. Endit