CASE OF BAŞTOVOI v. THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
Violation of Article 3 - Prohibition of torture (Article 3 - Degrading treatment) (Substantive aspect);Violation of Article 13+3 - Right to an effective remedy (Article 13 - Effective remedy) (Article 3 - Degrading treatment;Prohibition of torture)
Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström;Georges Ravarani
4. The applicant was born in 1959 and is currently detained in Chișinău. 5. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 6. On 23 December 2013 the applicant was arrested and charged with embezzlement and organising the attempted murder of two businessmen. Since that date he has been detained in Prison no. 13. 7. According to the applicant, he has been detained in a cell measuring 6 square metres with five other inmates, which left very little space for each detainee. Due to overcrowding, detainees had to share beds. He was not provided with bedding or a pillow. There was no sink or running water in the cell. The food was of poor quality and inedible. The squat toilet was not separated from the rest of the cell and gave off a foul odour. There was also a lack of daylight and poor ventilation. 8. The applicant asserted that he had been detained with inmates diagnosed with tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. As a result of being held in inhuman conditions of detention, he had been ill with mycosis, gastritis and a respiratory infection. He was not provided with any medical assistance and was forbidden from receiving herbal medicine from his wife. 9. The applicant complained of inhuman conditions of detention to the Chișinău prosecutor’s office and Court of Appeal. On 14 April 2014 the Prisons Department replied that after examining his allegations, it had not found any violation of domestic law. 10. The Government submitted that the applicant’s cell (no. 130) measured 10 square metres and was designed to accommodate four people. All detainees had their own beds. The cell was equipped with a sink and running water. The applicant was provided with bedding, hygiene products tailored to his needs and hot food three times a day, in accordance with Government Decision no. 609 concerning the minimum daily food requirements for detainees. The Government contended that the cell in question had not accommodated people with infectious diseases. They added that the applicant had been provided with medical assistance and submitted evidence of various medical check-ups.