CASE OF KOSIŃSKI v. POLAND
No violation of Article 8 - Right to respect for private and family life (Article 8-1 - Respect for family life;Respect for private life)
Krzysztof Wojtyczek;Nona Tsotsoria;Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer
5. The applicant was born in 1983 and is detained in Sztum. 6. At the time of the events in question, the applicant was serving a prison sentence in the Barczewo prison. 7. On 8 January 2011 the applicant’s grandmother died. On 10 January 2011 the applicant lodged a request with the Director of Prison and the Penitentiary judge for leave to attend her funeral which was to take place on 12 January 2011. Together with his application he submitted a statement from his sister E.K. who confirmed that she would personally collect the applicant from prison and bring him back after the funeral. 8. On 11 January 2011 the Penitentiary judge of the Olsztyn Regional Court (Sędzia Penitencjarny Sądu Okręgowego w Olsztynie) allowed the applicant to attend the funeral under prison officers’ escort. The reasoning of the decision read as follows: “In view of [the applicant’s] multiple convictions and his long term of imprisonment there is no guarantee that he will return to prison” 9. The applicant refused to attend the funeral, since he believed his appearance under escort of uniformed officers would create a disturbance during the ceremony. 10. On the same day the applicant lodged an appeal with the Olsztyn Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) complaining that the compassionate leave was granted under escort and also that he was only allowed to participate in the funeral (not the preceding church service). 11. On 3 February 2011 the Olsztyn Regional Court upheld the Penitentiary judge’s decision and dismissed the appeal. The court stressed that the applicant had been allowed to participate in the funeral under prison officers’ escort. It further noted that the applicant was a habitual offender sentenced to a long term of imprisonment therefore there was no positive criminological prognosis and no guarantee that he would have returned to prison after the ceremony.