'Anti-paedophile' party poised for parliamentary debut in Lithuania

The leader of the Political Party 'The Way of Courage' Neringa Venckiene speaks during a campaign meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania. AFPpic

As Lithuania's mainstream politicians lock horns ahead of Sunday's general election, a swathe of smaller parties aim to make waves, few more so than a new anti-corruption movement spun from a scandal over an alleged cover-up of paedophilia.
While the main event in the Baltic state's vote looks likely to be the ruling centre-right's defeat by the left-wing opposition, the Way of Courage party seems set to make its parliamentary debut.

Polls it could muster 6.5 per cent of the vote, enough for a handful of seats in the European Union nation's 141-member parliament.

"Brazen corruption and injustice in this country drove me to found this party," said its creator, former judge Neringa Venckiene.

The party's name in Lithuanian, "Drasos Kelias", is a nod to her brother Drasius Kedys.

Kedys - whose first name means "the brave" - was found dead in 2010 after going missing following his alleged involvement in the 2009 fatal street shooting of another judge and Kedys' sister-in-law.

Kedys claimed that justice officials had covered up a paedophile ring abusing his daughter with the connivance of his estranged wife.

He was ruled to have died of natural causes. But Venckiene says she believes he was killed.

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