4.  The applicant was born in 1953 and is currently in Poissy Prison after periods in other prisons, including Fresnes. He is suffering from Aids, which he says he contracted in 1985, approximately nine years before he was sent to prison. 5.  On 8 October 1994 a warrant was issued for the applicant's arrest in connection with a number of serious offences. On 26 June 1996 the Alpes Maritimes Assize Court convicted him of murder, attempt, armed robbery, and the false imprisonment and kidnapping of minors aged under fifteen and of adults. It sentenced him to twenty-one years' imprisonment, of which a minimum of fourteen years were to be served. On 3 March 1998 he received an eighteen-month sentence from the Albertville Criminal Court for attempted escape from lawful custody and assault. On 7 May 1998 the Savoie Assize Court convicted him of false imprisonment followed by mutilation, murder and attempted armed robbery. It sentenced him to twenty-two years' imprisonment, with a minimum of fourteen years and eight months to be served. 6.  On 19 November 2002 the Investigation Division of the Chambéry Court of Appeal ordered that the sentences imposed by the two Assize Courts should run concurrently in part, with the overall sentence not to exceed the statutory maximum of thirty years. The minimum period to be served was increased to twenty years. The applicant will now become eligible for parole on 28 September 2023. 7.  He has been held in various prisons. At the time his application was lodged, he had been in Fresnes Prison since April 2003. 8.  In September 2003 it was decided to transfer him to Poissy Prison on the grounds that: “This transfer will enable family ties to be maintained with his partner, as the prisoner's condition appears to warrant”. 9.  According to information supplied by the Government, the applicant lodged an application for a pardon on medical grounds on 1 February 2001 with the support of an association called Act Up. The Ministry of Justice asked the Principal Public Prosecutor at Reims Court of Appeal to appoint a medical expert to report on the applicant's condition and life expectancy, and to advise whether his condition and current or foreseeable treatment were compatible with his detention in prison or in a special facility. 10.  The Government stated that the application was turned down on 21 November 2001, after the applicant had refused to agree to a medical examination or to allow the expert access to his records. 11.  While in Clairvaux Prison the applicant made an initial application for his sentence to be suspended under Article 720-1-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a provision that had only recently been introduced. 12.  The judge responsible for the execution of sentences ordered a medical report advising, inter alia, on the applicant's condition, whether he was suffering from an illness that compromised his chances of survival and whether his condition was permanently incompatible with his continued detention. 13.  The expert, Dr B., lodged his report on 2 December 2002. After stating that the applicant had refused to undergo an examination and that the report was based solely on the medical records, he noted that the infection had spread and that the applicant's condition had deteriorated, in particular because he had refused all treatment for a year. He added:
“His condition necessitates his total, unfailing commitment to take his medication regularly and to undergo regular biological tests to assess how he is responding to treatment and whether the illness has been stabilised. All opportunistic infection must be warded off. The promiscuous nature of the prison environment makes it a source of such infection. The current increase in the viral load means that the prognosis is very poor and, and unless the patient responds to treatment, things may deteriorate very rapidly.” 14.  Dr B. also noted that mentally the applicant was opposed to and refused all medical treatment and regular monitoring. He said in conclusion:
“Mr Jean-François Gelfmann's chances (of survival) can be regarded as compromised. While it is neither possible, nor realistic, to predict the future, the following remarks may be made on the basis of the information in the medical records:
Despite having had no treatment for a year and the increase in his viral load, Mr Gelfmann has not had any major life-threatening problems of infection requiring highly specialised care in a special facility.
The treatment Mr Jean-François Gelfmann is required to take is oral, simple and can be administered in a prison environment. Monitoring is the responsibility of a medical team that is aware of the problem and composed of prison doctors and specialists in infectious diseases of the highest order.
No one can safely predict what Mr Jean-François Gelfmann's attitude will be and whether he will agree to treatment in a particular environment.
Although I have not been able to examine Mr Gelfmann, having read the voluminous file and last year's medical records and having questioned prison staff, I consider that his condition is currently compatible with continued detention. It will always be possible, if he so wishes and if his symptoms worsen, for him to be re-examined at a later date, at which point the opinion of a psychiatrist should also be sought.” 15.  Following his transfer to Fresnes Prison, the applicant made a fresh application to the Paris Regional Parole Court on 4 March 2003 for an order suspending his sentence. 16.  In an order of 14 May 2003, the judge responsible for the execution of sentences requested medical reports from Dr F. and Dr S. 17.  In his report of 28 May 2003, Dr F. noted:
“Mr Jean-François Gelfmann is carrying a serious disease: Aids. The diagnosis has been confirmed by the biological analyses (serology, viral and lymphocyte T4 count) and by the existence of other diseases, so called communal diseases, in association with HIV.
The disease was contracted long ago. Mr Jean-François Gelfmann himself says that it dates from 1985 and openly admits that he refused treatment until 1997.
The prognosis, whether in the short, medium or long-term, is grim. The specific treatment is onerous and can only be administered – with difficulty because the prisoner is uncooperative – in custody or in a relatively restrictive structure. This is the crux of the matter. In view of the seriousness of Mr Jean-François Gelfmann's condition and his disorders, which may be described as severe borderline syndrome, what is the solution? On one point, we entirely agree with the prisoner: he must be admitted to hospital for an assessment of the Aids position and its potential evolution and a check on the associated diseases: mycosis of the digestive tract, cutaneous mycosis, neuropathy and particularly tuberculosis. Although the tuberculosis appears to have been cured, in the United States Aids patients with tuberculosis are kept in permanent quarantine, as the American specialists consider that they are unable to cure tuberculosis in Aids patients and that the risk of infection is too high. That concern needs to be addressed.
All things considered, Mr Jean-François Gelfmann is able to tolerate detention in prison provided he is kept under strict medical supervision.
Detention in a hospital would, however, be more compatible with his condition. Beyond the short term, that is to say the assessment of the potential evolution of the diseases, the question of compatibility will need to be reviewed, it being borne in mind that, since we are dealing with diseases that are severe, infectious and fatal, continued treatment outside the current setting would be risky.” 18.  Dr F. said in conclusion:
“Jean-François Gelfmann is receiving treatment for a confirmed case of Aids. He has also been treated for tuberculosis. These diseases, related illnesses (mycosis, various infections, neuropathy) and severe psychopathy require assessment and his admission to hospital.
The treatment he is receiving in detention in Fresnes is entirely appropriate, compatibility with detention is reasonable under medical supervision, but it would be more coherent for him to be treated in hospital.” 19.  In his report of 30 May 2003, Dr S. gave the following answers to questions he had been put by the judge:
“... 3/ Seriousness of the illness and prognosis
Mr Gelfmann has been infected by the Aids virus, category C3 under the Atlanta classification. He has had opportunistic complications that have been treated. He will shortly have been receiving treatment for five years, starting with a bitherapy which proved ineffective after six months followed by tritherapy, which was effective, but was suspended five months later in May 2000 owing to neurological complications.
A few months later he began quadritherapy in Troyes but stopped taking his medication for a period of a year and a half.
He resumed treatment in July 2002 following the reappearance of adenopathy and a genital infection, but this has produced no results as he has refused treatment since October 2002. Since his transfer to Fresnes, the situation has got worse and the level of T4 has decreased.
There is a risk of death in the short to medium term.
4/ Treatment required
The quadritherapy started four years ago is no longer effective. The patient is due to attend Fresnes Hospital for medical treatment which has become more onerous as a result of his poor general health. A more thorough examination is needed and can only be performed in a special facility. There is virtually no other treatment left to offer Mr Gelfmann against the Aids virus, beyond the detection and treatment of other opportunistic infections, in particular, of the digestive tract...
5/ Whether his condition is compatible with detention in prison or requires special treatment that is only available in hospital
Mr Gelfmann's condition is no longer compatible with detention in prison and requires treatment that is only available in hospital.
6/ Whether he is suffering from a disease that compromises his chances of survival
Yes, Mr Gelfmann is suffering from a disease that compromises his chances of survival in the short to medium term.
7/ Information and observations that may assist the court
If the position concerning the viral load and T4 continues to deteriorate, complications may develop (lymphoma, pneumopathy, toxoplasmosis, CMV infection or dementia). The hospital assessment will afford more detailed information on the evolution of the illness. Unforeseeable intercurrent lethal complication is possible.” 20.  The judge also ordered a psychiatric report, which stated that the applicant was not suffering from a mental disorder amounting to insanity warranting psychiatric treatment, but had presented since childhood emotional imbalance marked by personality organisation with characteristic psychopathic traits which was not incompatible with continued detention. It was further noted that the applicant remained of dangerous criminal propensity and that, owing to his refusal to receive any psychotherapeutic treatment, there was no point in offering him such treatment in detention or making it a condition of a suspended sentence, since his active participation was the only guarantee of possible success. 21.  The Paris Regional Parole Court met on 25 June 2003. In a judgment delivered that same day, it ordered the applicant's sentence to be suspended on the grounds that it had been established by two concurring expert reports that he was suffering from a disease that compromised his chances of survival and was thus eligible for a suspended sentence. 22.  The Principal Public Prosecutor's Office appealed against that judgment, which the National Parole Court quashed on 18 July 2003 for the following reasons:
“... a medical report dated 28 May 2003 shows that the treatment for the diseases from which Mr Gelfmann is suffering is onerous and can only be administered '– with difficulty because the prisoner is uncooperative – in custody or in a relatively restrictive structure'. The practitioner adds: 'This is the crux of the matter' and that detention remains 'compatible with his condition'. Another medical expert, in a report lodged on 2 December 2002, states that the treatment which Mr Gelfmann must take is 'simple and can be administered in a prison environment'.
Lastly, the impugned decision notes that a psychiatric expert has stated that Jean-François Gelfmann 'remains of' dangerous criminal propensity and that his 'active participation' in the treatment is the only guarantee of possible success, 'in view of the way his personality is structured'.
In these circumstances, it does not appear appropriate to suspend the sentence and the impugned decision must be reversed.” 23.  In a letter of 23 July 2003, the applicant's lawyer was advised by a member of the Conseil d'État and Court of Cassation Bar whom he had contacted that, by virtue of Article 720-1-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, no appeal lay against a decision of the National Parole Court, unless it could be shown that it had acted in excess of its authority, which did not appear to be the position in the applicant's case.