Former Prime Minister, Gediminas Kirkilas, passes away at 72
Gediminas Kirkilas, a pivotal figure in recent Lithuanian political history, passed away on April 20. Symbolically, it happened on the same day when Lithuania officially announced that it would not contest the verdict of the European Court for Human Rights regarding the so-called CIA dark site in Lithuania and the illegal detention and torture of foreign nationals on Lithuanian soil. The site (one of a few in Eastern Europe) operated in Lithuania from 2005-2006, when Kirkilas was a minister of defense in the government. Although Lithuanian officials have consistently denied involvement and even knowledge of the site in Lithuania, it is already the second case that Lithuania has lost against a detainee.