President says he believes no CIA prison existed in Lithuania, no new investigations needed

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on Tuesday he trusts the assessments of national institutions that no CIA prison for terrorism suspects operated in the country, adding he sees no need for further investigations into the matter, BNS reports.

“Frankly, I don’t know what additional investigations could provide new momentum to this story, which has already been assessed, where investigations were carried out that concluded no such prison existed. I very much doubt new investigations would change anything,” Nausėda said in an interview with BNS.

The president stated he sees no reason to doubt the findings of previous probes. When asked if he believes a CIA prison existed in Lithuania, he replied: “Again, I can only say what I think. I think it did not.”

Last week, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Lithuania to pay 30,000 euros in damages to Saudi national Abd al-Rahim Hussain al-Nashiri for his unlawful detention in a secret US prison in Lithuania two decades ago. The court also required Lithuanian authorities to seek assurances from Washington that the terrorism suspect would not face the death penalty. This is the third such ECHR ruling in cases against Lithuania.

Nausėda acknowledged that court rulings must be enforced but noted that regarding the requirement to approach the US, “we should consult further.”

“Execution depends on the broader context,” the president said. “In reality, we must consider the aspect that we are addressing another state with certain recommendations, which could also be interpreted as interference in another country’s internal affairs. There are various aspects here, so we should not make decisions in an unprofessional or dilettantish manner. We must make them by evaluating the entire complex of issues, including legal and political aspects.”

Lithuanian officials have consistently denied that a CIA prison operated in the country two decades ago. While the ECHR has repeatedly ruled otherwise, Lithuanian authorities argue the court relies on opinions from human rights organisations and their investigations, not official institutions.

In 2018, the ECHR first ruled that a secret CIA prison operated in Lithuania between 2005 and 2006, where another Saudi national, Abu Zubaydah, was detained. In January 2024, the court awarded 100,000 euros to Saudi national Mustafa al-Hawsawi for unlawful detention.

Lithuania officially does not recognise that a secret CIA prison operated on its territory. In ECHR cases, it has argued that the facilities in Antaviliai, near Vilnius, were not a prison but an intelligence support centre. The country claims the suspicious flights to Lithuania carried communications equipment, not people.

A parliamentary investigation by the Seimas National Security and Defence Committee in 2009 concluded it could not confirm that CIA detainees were brought to Lithuania, though it acknowledged conditions for such operations existed.

A 2014 US Senate report on secret American prisons did not name specific locations but human rights defenders believe Lithuania hosted a facility codenamed “violet.” The ECHR has relied on this evidence.

According to the US Senate report, the facility operated from early 2005 until 2006, when Lithuanian officials refused to admit M. al-Hawsawi to a local hospital. Lithuania’s prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into the possible CIA prison in 2010 but suspended it a year later. The probe was reopened in 2015 following the US Senate report.