The court hearing scheduled for November 24, 2020 has been remanded to January 21, 2020.
Prior to the event, an unusually high number of attendees had registered for the court hearing in the Vilnius District Court. As a consequence of limited space and the social distancing requirements of COVID-19, a new date for the hearing has been set for January 21, 2021.
The court proceeding is a class action suit against Turto bankas, the Lithuanian government and the Vilnius City Council. Its an effort by descendents of those interred in the Shnipishok Jewish cemetery to stop the development of the conference center. The proposed development targets the site of the Sports Palace which is located in the cemetery. The developers are disputing that the Sports Center is in the cemetery. However, this contradicts an agreement the developers inked in January 2020, which specifically pinpoints the Sports Center as being in the cemetery as well as he testimony of expert witnesses who also asserted that the proposed development is on the graves of the deceased.
The class action suit is being led by Yosef Yizhak Pines who is a descendent of the Vilna Gaon. See full article.