freedom and security Archives

Illegal arrest and detention of court officials in Turkey! Unjustified extension of the concept of in flagrante delicto

Article 5
30/12/2021 09:01

JUDGMENT Turan and others v. Turkey 23.11.2021 (app. no. 75805/16 and 426 more applications) see here SUMMARY Arrest and temporary detention of court officials without legal process. Temporary detention of judges suspected of participating in an illegal organization following a coup attempt, based on an unjustified extension of the concept of self-inflicted crime (in flagrante […]

The lockdown ordered by the authorities to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic not to be equated with house arrest

Article 5
20/05/2021 18:42

JUDGMENT Terhe v. Romania 20.5.2021 (app. no. 49933/20) see here SUMMARY The case concerned the lockdown which was ordered by the Romanian government from 24 March to 14 May 2020 to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and which entailed restrictions on leaving one’s home. The Court held that the measure complained of could not be equated […]

Decisions on pre-trial detention and on its extension must have adequate reasons. Conviction for violation of personal freedom

Article 5
03/05/2021 10:23

JUDGMENT Hasselbaink v. the Netherlands 09.02.2021 (app. no. 73329/16) see here SUMMARY Right to personal liberty and detention. Reasoning of the decision on temporary detention. The applicant was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and extortion and was remanded in custody from 31 March until 15 September, when he was acquitted by the criminal court. Throughout […]

Detainees in psychiatric prison wards. Developments after a pilot decision. Detention in inappropriate conditions, psychiatric wards with systemic problems and improvements.

Article 3
10/04/2021 19:05

JUDGMENT Venken and others v. Belgium 06.04.2021 (app. no. 46130/14) see here SUMMARY The case concerns five applications concerning the detention of five Belgian nationals in the psychiatric prison ward, which followed the pilot decision of W.D. against Belgium. The applicants alleged that they did not benefit from an remedy adapted to their mental health […]

Temporary detention with a standard but insufficient reasoning. Violation of the right to personal liberty

Article 5
12/12/2020 13:45

JUDGMENT
Ghavalyan v. Armenia 22.10.2020 (app. no. 50423/08)
Temporary detention and reasoning. Adequate reasoning is required and not general and standard. Proportionality of temporary detention. Procedural guarantees for adversarial proceedings.
The applicant was charged with tax evasion and remanded in custody for 8 months. The decisions on pre-trial detention contained general reasons, not specific evidence. The domestic courts did not summon the applicant and her lawyer during the hearing of the appeals against the detention order and the Court of Cassation did not quickly consider the applicant’s appeal.

The arrest of a protester violated her freedom of assembly because she could not participate in the demonstration. Police duty to protect LGBT community protesters from homophobic attacks

Article 11
01/12/2020 15:55

JUDGMENT
Berkman v. Russia 1.12.2020 (app. no. 46712/15)
The case concerned a public LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) meeting in St Petersburg and the authorities’ failure to protect
participants from aggressive counter-demonstrators.
The Court found in particular that a State did not just have a duty under the Convention not to
interfere with the right to freedom of assembly. For that right to be genuine and effective, the
authorities also had an obligation to facilitate access to meetings and ensure participants’ safety.

Freedom of expression is violated by the unlawful detention of a journalist during the performance of his duties. Detention is not compatible with the ECHR when there is no reasonable suspicion of guilt

Article 10
26/11/2020 14:57

JUDGMENT
Şık v. Turkey 24.11.2020 (app. no. 36493/17)
The case concerned the initial and continued pre-trial detention of the journalist Ahmet Şık, who
was suspected of disseminating propaganda in favour of organisations considered to be terrorist
organisations or of assisting them through articles and interviews published in the Turkish daily
newspaper Cumhuriyet and social media posts, all of which criticised government policy.
The Court held that Mr Şık could not be reasonably suspected, at the time of his placement in
detention, of having committed the offences of disseminating propaganda in favour of terrorist
organisations or assisting those organisations. In other words, the facts of the case did not support
the conclusion that a reasonable suspicion had existed against him. Accordingly, although imposed
under judicial supervision, the orders for Mr Şık’s initial and continued detention had been based on
mere suspicion.

The violent arrest of a lawyer-protester by police constituted degrading treatment. ECHR violations due to arrests and overnight detention of protesters

Article 11
20/11/2020 15:43

JUDGMENT
Navalnyy and Gunko v. Russia 10.11.2020 (app. no. 75186/12)
Two protesters were arrested in Bolotnaya Square in Russia in May 2012 during a political demonstration against the government. Their overnight detention in a police station and administrative conviction for violating legal police orders.
One of the protesters, Aleksey Navalnyy, a lawyer and political activist, claimed in his application before the ECtHR that a police officer had used excessive force during his arrest. Both protesters also claimed that their arrest and overnight detention was unjustified and arbitrary, that the administrative proceedings against them were unfair, that the dissolution of the demonstration, their arrest and subsequent conviction were disproportionate and that these violations of their rights were intended to undermine the freedom of assembly.

Pre trial detention without evidence and reasonable evidence violated the right to liberty and security

detainee
15/11/2020 11:58

JUDGMENT
Myasnik Malkhasyan v. Armenia 15.10.2020 (app. no. 49020/08)
Provisional detention. Lack of evidence and reasonable indications. Deprivation of liberty without legal reason.
The applicant took part in political rallies. He was arrested and temporarily detained for more than 6 months without reasonable evidence for the charge specifically attributed to him for attempting to overthrow the regime. He brought an application for violation of the right to freedom and security.

The temporary placement of a juvenile convicted of drug offences and theft in an open center to prevent him from committing new crimes did not violate his right to liberty and security

Article 5
14/11/2020 10:38

JUDGMENT
Reist v. Switzerland 27.10.2020 (app. no. 39246/15)
The case concerned a provisional protective measure ordered against the applicant by the
prosecutor for juvenile offenders, pending the delivery of a judgment replacing an initial measure of
personal assistance which had proved unsuccessful.

freedom and security