6.  The applicant was born in 1970 and lives in Budapest (Hungary). He is a businessman with commercial activities in Hungary and Slovakia. 7.  On 30 September 1999 the applicant was charged in Slovakia with the offence of blackmail within the meaning of Article 235 of the Criminal Code. The charge was based on the suspicion that the applicant had participated in an operation that involved posing as police officers, luring two individuals from a restaurant, attacking them with a handgun, wounding and tying one of the victims up, taking him to another place and coercing him into revealing information about two other persons. 8.  On 15 November 1999 the applicant appeared before the investigator of his own accord and was arrested (see below). 9.  On 19 January 2000 the applicant and four others were committed to stand trial in the Dunajská Streda District Court (Okresný súd) on charges related to the above incident. 10.  On 3 March and 18 April 2000, respectively, the Dunajská Streda District Court and, on appeal, the Trnava (Slovakia) Regional Court remitted the case to the prosecution service for further investigation. 11.  On 24 August 2000 the inquiry in the applicant's case was joined to another inquiry that was being undertaken with respect to a murder allegedly committed by the applicant's co-accused. 12.  On 11 September 2000 the applicant was again committed, in the Regional Court, to stand trial on the above charge. 13.  On 24 November 2003 the Regional Court ruled that, for reasons of procedural economy, the applicant would be tried in the Dunajská Streda District Court, separately from the other accused. The case was transmitted to the latter court on 29 October 2004. 14.  On 14 April 2005 the Supreme Court confirmed, on an application by the Dunajská Streda District Court, that the latter court would try the applicant at first instance. 15.  The proceedings are still pending. 16.  On 16 November 1999, following his arrest the previous day, the Trnava District Court remanded the applicant in custody under Article 67 § 1 (a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure on the ground that he was a foreign national and that there was a well-founded risk that, if left at liberty, he would escape or go into hiding in order to avoid prosecution. The applicant did not exercise his right of appeal (sťažnosť) and the decision became final and binding. 17.  On 22 November 1999 the applicant requested release on bail. The request, which was initially granted, was finally dismissed by the Regional Court, on appeal, on 13 January 2000. 18.  On 3 March 2000 the Dunajská Streda District Court again granted the applicant bail, but the decision was quashed by the Regional Court, on appeal, on 18 April 2000. 19.  The applicant lodged another request for release on 13 July 2000, but made a formal motion to withdraw it on 31 July 2000. 20.  On 25 July 2000 the applicant made a separate request for release on bail. The request was dismissed, on appeal, by the Regional Court on 31 October 2000. 21.  On 24 November 2000 the prosecution service requested extension of the applicant's detention until 8 June 2001. The extension was authorised, on appeal, by the Regional Court on 11 January 2001. 22.  On 20 February 2001 the applicant lodged a request for release on bail with the Dunajská Streda District Court. He resubmitted the request to the Trnava District Court on 7 May 2001 and supplemented the grounds of the request on 28 May 2001. He argued that his detention was unjustified as he had contacted the authorities of his own accord and the fact that he was a non‑national could not be held against him discriminatorily. 23.  On 31 May 2001 the Trnava District Court dismissed the request. The decision was served on the applicant on 7 June 2001. On the same day the applicant appealed. On 15 June 2001 he supplemented the grounds of appeal. 24.  On 28 June 2001 the Regional Court quashed the decision of 31 May 2001 and remitted the case to the Trnava District Court on the ground that the latter had failed to support its decision with proper reasons and to address the applicant's arguments adequately. 25.  On 13 September 2001 the Trnava District Court dismissed the applicant's request again. On 18 October 2001 the Regional Court dismissed an appeal by the applicant.
It was observed that the applicant was a non-national and faced a sentence of two to eight years' imprisonment. This, combined with the nature of the subject of the investigation and the stage reached in the proceedings, gave grounds for concern that he might abscond.
The decision of 18 October 2001 was taken in a private session (neverejné zasadnutie) and was served on the applicant in writing on 31 October 2001. 26.  In the meantime, on 28 May 2001, the prosecution service requested extension of the applicant's detention until 15 November 2001. The extension was authorised by the Tranava District Court on 31 May 2001 and, on appeal, by the Trnava Regional Court on 12 July 2001. A copy of the latter decision was served on the applicant on 26 July 2001. It was held that the grounds for his detention persisted and that, due to its scale, it had not been possible to complete the investigation earlier. 27.  On 29 October 2001 the applicant lodged another request for release on bail. In a letter of 7 November 2001 the public prosecution service stated that, under Article 72 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the request could not be dealt with as it had been submitted less than fourteen days after the final determination of the applicant's previous request and contained no new relevant information (see paragraph 25 above). 28.  On 5 November 2001 the Supreme Court authorised an extension of the applicant's detention until 15 May 2002. There was a strong suspicion against the applicant of involvement in a serious and extensive organised criminal activity. The applicant was a non-national and had no official residence in Slovakia. His release might jeopardise the ongoing and wide-ranging investigation, which could not be completed earlier. 29.  In the meantime – on 31 October 2001 – the applicant again requested release, but withdrew the request on 13 February 2002. 30.  On 18 February 2002 the applicant applied for release again. His application was dismissed, on appeal, on 10 October 2002. 31.  On 13 May 2002 the Supreme Court authorised a further extension of the applicant's detention until 30 September 2002. 32.  On 25 July 2002 the applicant requested release and, on the same day, the Trnava District Court informed him that the request could not be examined as his previous request had not been determined yet. 33.  On an unspecified date the applicant was released.