The Chancellery of the Polish president on Thursday said a judgment by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) saying Poland had violated European torture and inhumane treatment laws was "embarrassing for Poland" and a "huge burden both to the state's finances and its image."

The statement added that the responsibility for the situation should be addressed to people who held power in Poland at the time.

Earlier on Thursday, the ECHR in Strasbourg ruled that Poland had violated the European Convention on Human Rights and is to pay compensation to two presumed terrorists who were held in CIA prisons within its territory.

The ECHR unanimously decided that the complaint placed against Poland by Saudi Arabian nationals Abu Zubajda and Al-Nashiri was well-grounded. Both men were accused of being members of Al-Qaida and claim they were kept in a secret CIA prison in Poland from 2002 to 2003 and were tortured.

On Thursday, Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Marcin Wojciechowski said the ECHR ruling was being analyzed and that an official reaction would be made after detailed consideration.

The ECHR decision is not final and can still be challenged at the Grand Chamber of the ECHR.

The secret CIA prisons were allegedly located in a Polish service training base in Kiejkuty and near the military airport in Szymany, Mazury province.

Polish politicians, including Former President Aleksander Kwasniewski and former prime ministers, repeatedly denied such prisons existed in the country. Endi

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