protests

PLEASE READ THIS MESSAGE. And share with others.

📍WHEN? April 8 6 p.m.

📍WHERE? Near the Seimas, Vilnius Independence Square

Despite tens of thousands of you who gathered for protests in December, those in power are returning to the law that can politicize the LRT. It’s a straight and fast path to taking control of the public broadcaster you all own, this time even with censorship-like elements. This will also violate your right to know and receive correct information. This is the same path that politicians have already taken in Hungary and Slovakia.

The main question now is whether we will hand over our public broadcaster to such figures as Žemaitaitis, Skardžius, Zuokas, Girskienė, etc.? Will we hand over the public broadcaster to those who openly vote against projects vital to Lithuania’s national security, such as the polygon? Because when the LRT law was submitted to the Seimas, it was the Nemunas Dawn politicians who were one of the main agitators for this project, and a person who has twice been officially recognized as anti-Semitic is already declaring victory in the fight for LRT on alternative media channels.

And don’t doubt, unity will definitely be enough for the governing coalition here. And if we give back the public broadcaster, what else will we have to give them after that? Because the public broadcaster is always just the first step in the textbook for the destruction of democracy. We propose not to give up and do everything to keep the public broadcaster free, owned by citizens, not politicians.

We don’t have much time, the previous rulers used up the Christmas period, now – the Easter period. On the first day after Easter, on April 7, the draft is to be discussed in the Seimas, and it can be finally adopted any day after that. Those in power have the same plan to politicize LRT. They use the examples of many autocrats and hope that public indignation can be simply weathered, and after a while they can achieve their desired goals without any resistance.

We offer to show that it will not be possible to wait and we will not give up. Therefore, APRIL 8 AT 6 P.M. we invite you to gather at the Seimas and together once again loudly say – keep your hands away from free speech! Don’t come alone – bring your friends and family! Community is our greatest weapon against cynical power.

The authorities hope that we will get tired of protesting, believe that they can’t change anything, and let them take care of themselves quietly and peacefully. But we will stand for media freedom as long as it takes. It really needs you, everyone’s contribution is extremely important! We have already shown once that we can change the situation and together with you we stopped the political bulldozer. Only with your help can we all do it again together. Because this is our country and it depends on us in which direction it will turn.