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Lithuania arrested 26 people Wednesday, including eight top judges and five lawyers, in an anti-corruption crackdown that Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said called time on the “untouchables.”

Prosecutor General Edvinas Pasilis told reporters that the authorities had uncovered a “system” of corruption: “What we found was that, in a barrister’s office, trading in justice was taking place.”

He intends to review verdicts issued by the eight elite judges, Reuters reports.

Zydrunas Bartkus, director of Lithuania’s anti-corruption agency, said evidence showed bribes ranging from €1,000 to €100,000 had been given to influence the outcome of administrative, civil and criminal court cases.

“Everyone has to learn the lesson,” Skvernelis posted on Facebook.”The times of untouchables are over.”

In 2017, Lithuania was ranked the fifth-most corrupt country in the EU, a Eurobarometer survey showed, with 93 percent of the population saying corruption was widespread.

via POLITICO

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