The country’s ombudsman for the protection of children has been let go after the Seimas voted not to reinstate her at the end of her five-year tenure.

Rimante Salaseviciute, who was head of the ombudsman for the protection of children was stood down on Tuesday. She was criticized by parliamentarians for spending more time protecting her position than the children of Lithuania, a claim she denies.

One of her critics, Seimas speaker Irena Degutiene, seems to have had a change of heart in the last year. Since she came into office the Drasius Kedys saga unfolded where a man and a woman who allegedly abused a child were shot dead. Kedys, who is the key suspect in the case, has disappeared off the map.

The killings prompted politicians to start pointing fingers and the country’s prosecutor general stepped down as a result. Degutiene accused the former ombudsman of not doing all she could in the situation.

Before the Kedys incident however, Degutiene was a fan of Salaseviciute’s work, she said.

“Sincerely speaking, I am not convinced by the speaker of the parliament that her words are really her own opinion. I think I have the basis to say so. Last year, even from the current speaker I had the pleasure to hear very positive comments about the opinion of my office. That is why today I am not convinced that I was wrong as ombudsman. This is my personal opinion,” Salaseviciute told journalists at the Seimas.

Some 73 parliamentarians voted to fire Salaseviciute and one voted against, while 23 abstained.

Last year in an interview with the newspaper Respublika, Salaseviciute said she had “no doubt that a paedophile network is operating in Lithuania.”