6.  The applicant was born in 1956. 7.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 8.  Following his conviction by a court of law, between 20 June 1999 and 28 August 2002, the applicant served his first term in the Niš Penitentiary (Kazneno-popravni zavod u Nišu; hereinafter “the prison”). 9.  During this time the prison dentist diagnosed that he had been suffering from paradontosis (i.e. “shaky teeth and their spontaneous falling out”). On two separate occasions extractions were carried out and on a third occasion the applicant complained about facial paresis, which was determined to be unrelated to his dental problems. 10.  After his release, on 17 March 2003 the applicant was apparently placed in detention on remand, as part of a separate criminal case. 11.  Following yet another conviction, on 5 January 2004 the applicant started serving his second prison term in the Niš Penitentiary. 12.  On the same date his medical file was opened. Several medical problems, involving his knees and facial paresis were apparently identified, but no dental examination appears to have been carried out. 13.  On 13 February 2004 the applicant was first examined by the prison dentist, who confirmed his complete toothlessness (terminalna krezubost). 14.  On 5 March 2004 the dentist proposed that the applicant be provided with dentures. 15.  On 4 May 2004 the applicant sent a letter to the Ministry of Health (Ministarstvo zdravlja), requesting dentures. 16.  On 25 June 2004 the said Ministry’s inspectorate (Sektor za zdravstveni nadzor) informed the applicant that convicted persons had to exercise their rights through the Ministry of Justice (Ministarstvo pravde) rather than the Ministry of Health. 17.  By letter of 21 July 2004 the Health Inspection (Zdravstvena inspekcija Ministarstva zdravlja - odsek Niš) observed that, in accordance with Article 4 of the Decision on the Participation of Insured Persons in the Costs of Health Care (Odluka o učešću osiguranih lica u troškovima zdravstvene zaštite; see paragraphs 46 and 47 below), blood donors, such as the applicant, were not exempted from the obligation to cover 60% of the cost of obtaining dentures (pokretne stomatološke nadoknade od akrilata.) 18.  On 21 October 2004 the applicant was admitted to the prison hospital, where his loss of appetite was noted, while on 2 December 2004 he complained of anxiety. 19.  On 23 December 2004 the applicant fainted during a head count and sustained an injury above his left eye. 20.  On an unspecified date in 2004 the applicant was informed by the prison authorities that he had to pay 10,000 dinars (at that time approximately 110 euros) towards meeting the total cost of his dentures. The applicant instead proposed that he be allowed to pay this amount in instalments corresponding to his monthly prison salary. 21.  On 1 February 2005 the applicant again fainted and sustained an injury to his left cheekbone, requiring maxillofacial surgery, which was performed on 4 February 2005. 22.  The applicant alleges that throughout this time he had continued having problems with his eating. In particular, he could eat no solid foods, including meat or even fruit. The prison authorities, however, attempted to alleviate the applicant’s plight by providing him with additional soft bread at each meal. 23.  On 7 June 2006 the applicant repeated his request concerning the payment of his dentures through monthly instalments. 24.  On 30 January 2007 the prison governor informed the applicant that the prison would cover the full costs of his dentures. In so doing, he noted that the reason for this was humanitarian and that the relevant domestic legislation imposed no such obligation on the authorities. Lastly, the governor emphasised that the price of the dentures in prison was, in any event, 50% less than the normal price since the prisoner’s income was itself below the average monthly salary in Serbia. 25.  On 25 June 2007 the applicant was provided with the dentures in question. 26.  As noted above, by letter of 21 July 2004 the Health Inspection informed the applicant about his health insurance coverage. This letter bore the prison stamp dated 22 July 2004 and registration number 713/9033. 27.  The applicant’s letter of 10 August 2004, sent to the Court, also bore the prison stamp dated 10 August 2004, as well as registration number 24/9684. 28.  In its own letter of 21 December 2004, inter alia, the Court’s Registry therefore informed the applicant in Serbian of the said stamp, assuming that he may not have been aware of it. 29.  In his subsequent letter of 11 January 2005, the applicant stated that all his mail addressed to the Court, as well as to other bodies, had to go through the prison administration, where it was opened, and alleged that this was standard practice based on the provisions of the applicable prison regulations. This letter also bore the prison stamp dated 11 January 2005 and registration number 24/267. 30.  In June 2006 the applicant provided the Court with a statement signed by 78 prisoners confirming, inter alia, that their correspondence had been routinely opened by the prison authorities. 31.  As of 2002 the applicant had a limited liability company registered in his name. It would appear, however, that this company never became operational. 32.  By October 2005 the applicant seems to have inherited 25% of a one-bedroom flat from his mother. 33.  On 12 February 2006 and 16 May 2006, respectively, the applicant apparently sent two separate letters to the prison governor, seeking an audience. 34.  On 26 October 2006 the Ministry of Justice forwarded a complaint of the applicant to the prison governor for consideration. 35.  On 24 November 2006 the Social Care Centre (Centar za socijalni rad) in Jagodina confirmed, inter alia, that the applicant had been receiving unemployment benefits between 1 December 1994 and 31 May 1999. 36.  Whilst in prison the applicant appears to have received a salary in the total amount of 19,000 dinars, through monthly instalments. As of July 2006, however, 3,537 dinars remained on his personal prison account as part of a “compulsory savings scheme”.