Lithuania's State Security Department (VSD) is selling the building in Vilnius that could have housed a secret CIA prison where Americans allegedly held several 9/11 suspects.
The site in Antaviliai, a neighbourhood of Vilnius, was used as a training centre by the VSD until last December, when it was handed over to Turto Bankas, a fund that manages the sale of state-owned properties.
The nearly 1,000-square-metre building on the 1-hectare plot of land is to be auctioned off in the near future, though the date of the auction is yet to be set.
The proceeds will be used to build a new administration building for the VSD.
In late 2009, ABC News broke a story that the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operated a black site in Lithuania where it transported several suspects of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
A 2014 US Senate report also mentioned “Site Violet” which operated in 2005-2006. Although the redacted report does not situate the prison in Lithuania, human rights organisations believe that “Site Violet” operated in Antaviliai.
In 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in favour of Abu Zubaydah, a Palestinian from Saudi Arabia, who claimed he was held prisoner in Lithuania. The ECHR ordered Lithuania to pay a compensation of 130,000 euros to Abu Zubaydah.
Another lawsuit against Lithuania has been filed by Mustafa al Hawsawi, a Saudi national, who also claims the CIA held him in Lithuania.
Following the 2009 news reports, the Lithuanian parliament launched an inquiry and the Prosecutor General's Office opened a pre-trial investigation. In January 2011, the investigation was closed, concluding that the site was not used as a prison, although its real purpose could not be disclosed due to state secrets.
The Lithuanian government has denied that the Antaviliai facility was used by the CIA to detain people. It argued at the ECHR that the facility was used for intelligence activities, while suspicious flights from the US carried communications equipment, not people.
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