Lithuanian opposition backs parliamentary probe into alleged CIA prison

Lithuania’s opposition parties support a new parliamentary investigation into the alleged existence of a secret CIA prison in the country, while the ruling coalition sees no need for further scrutiny, LRT reports.

The debate resurfaced after Lithuania lost another case at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over the unlawful detention of a suspect in a CIA facility. The court recently ordered Lithuania to pay €30,000 in damages to a Saudi Arabian national, Abd Al Rahim Hussein Al-Nashiri, for his unlawful imprisonment in a secret US-run prison in Lithuania two decades ago. The ruling also required Lithuanian authorities to seek assurances from Washington that the terrorism suspect would not face the death penalty.

Opposition lawmakers argue that clarifying whether such a detention facility existed is a matter of national honor. Orinta Leiputė, senior member of the ruling Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) faction, doubts the necessity of another probe. “I question whether an additional parliamentary investigation is needed. But if the need arises, we will discuss it in the faction,” she told BNS. Leiputė referenced a 2009 investigation by the Seimas National Security and Defence Committee (NSGK), which found no evidence that detainees were brought to Lithuania but confirmed that conditions for such transfers had existed.

That probe identified two sites—one in Vilnius and another in Antaviliai, near the capital—where facilities for detaining suspects could have been set up. It also uncovered several CIA-linked flights to Vilnius and Palanga between 2003 and 2006. Prosecutors later launched their own investigation but closed it in 2011, citing a lack of evidence linking the Antaviliai building to the detention of individuals. A separate pre-trial investigation in 2015, merged with a probe into illegal human trafficking across state borders, also failed to establish that the facility had been used for unlawful detention.

Agnė Širinskienė, senior member of the Democratic Union “For Lithuania” faction, described further investigations as “political archaeology” with little added value. “In my view, such political archaeology would hardly contribute anything new, as these investigations have already been conducted,” she said. Širinskienė noted that ECHR cases related to the alleged CIA prison are not new and that more could emerge in the future.

The alleged CIA prison was first reported by US television network ABC News in 2009, which claimed that eight terrorism suspects had been held near Vilnius between 2004 and 2005.