CASE OF ŠTVRTECKÝ v. SLOVAKIA
No violation of Article 5 - Right to liberty and security (Article 5-3 - Length of pre-trial detention)
Alena Poláčková;Branko Lubarda;Georgios A. Serghides;Helen Keller;Helena Jäderblom;Pere Pastor Vilanova
5. The applicant was born in 1968 and lives in Senica. 6. On 3 October 2006 the applicant and three others were charged with extorting money from P. P. 7. On 6 October 2006 the Senica District Court (okresný súd) remanded the applicant and two of his alleged accomplices in custody from 3 October 2006 onwards. The court held that there was a reasonable suspicion that the applicant had committed the offence with which he was charged, that the offence had been committed in an organised way, and that therefore there was a risk that he could put pressure on witnesses, contact other perpetrators and tamper with evidence. The court relied on the testimony of P.P., who allegedly had been warned by one of the applicant’s accomplices about instructions from the applicant not to cooperate with the police. On 24 October 2006 the Trnava Regional Court (krajský súd) dismissed an interlocutory appeal (sťažnosť) by the applicant. 8. On 6 December 2006 a police investigator charged the applicant and fifteen other people with establishing, masterminding and supporting a criminal group. The applicant was also charged with aggravated coercion, extortion, and causing bodily harm. 9. On 22 December 2006 the Pezinok Special Court (špeciálny súd, hereafter “the Special Court”), where the case had been transferred in the meantime owing to the organised nature of the crimes, dismissed an application by the applicant for release. It relied on the particularly serious and organised nature of the offences he was charged with, and held that there was a real danger that he might influence witnesses and contact other perpetrators in order to tamper with evidence. On 17 January 2007 the Supreme Court (Najvyšší súd) dismissed an interlocutory appeal by the applicant. 10. On 16 March 2007 the Special Court extended the applicant’s detention until 3 October 2007. In addition to the reasons mentioned above, it relied on a reasonable suspicion that the applicant was the leader of a criminal group which had been operating for several years, and that not all of the members of that criminal group had been identified. The court pointed out that the criminal investigation was particularly complex. On 28 March 2007 the Supreme Court dismissed an interlocutory appeal by the applicant. 11. On 17 April 2007 the police investigator charged the applicant with another count of extortion. 12. On 11 June 2007 the Special Court dismissed another application by the applicant for release. It relied on the testimony of several witnesses who were afraid to testify against him. The court took into account the complexity of the criminal investigation, finding that there had been no undue delays. On 22 June 2007 the Supreme Court dismissed an interlocutory appeal by the applicant. 13. On 14 September 2007 the applicant was charged with two other counts of extortion. 14. On 18 September 2007 the Special Court extended the applicant’s detention until 3 April 2008, and extended the grounds for his detention by including the risk of his reoffending. It held that it was reasonable to suspect that, if released, the applicant would continue his criminal activities, taking into account: the motives for such activities and their duration and extent; the methods of intimidation and violence used by the criminal group; the hierarchical and organised nature of the group; and the fact that not all of the members of the group had been identified. On 26 September 2007 the Supreme Court dismissed an interlocutory appeal by the applicant. 15. On 17 March 2008 the applicant’s detention was extended until 7 July 2008. The Special Court added that his detention assisted the investigation, since the victims were willing to testify, but still not all of the members of the criminal group had been identified. On 26 March 2008 the Supreme Court dismissed an interlocutory appeal by the applicant. 16. The applicant was indicted before the Special Court on 13 June 2008. The bill of indictment concerned sixteen criminal acts, eighteen defendants and fourteen victims. The applicant was charged with establishing, masterminding and supporting a criminal group, aggravated coercion, causing bodily harm, and ten acts of extortion. All the crimes were qualified as particularly serious crimes. The sums extorted ranged from 10,000 to 33,000 euros (EUR). 17. On 25 June 2008 the Special Court examined the grounds for the applicant’s detention and ruled that he should remain in detention. It pointed out that, according to the indictment, he was allegedly the leader of a criminal group, a group which had been conducting criminal activities for six years against people who were victims and witnesses in the trial, by means of threats and the use of physical and psychological violence. On 4 July 2008 the Supreme Court dismissed an interlocutory appeal by the applicant. 18. On 6 October 2008, when conducting a preliminary examination of the bill of indictment, the Special Court again reviewed the grounds for the applicant’s detention and ruled that he should remain in detention. On 15 October 2008 the Supreme Court dismissed an interlocutory appeal by the applicant. 19. On 16 July 2009 the Special Court dismissed another application by the applicant for release. It held that several witnesses were afraid to testify against him in his presence and had thus been heard in his absence. In particular, one witness had been contacted and threatened by unknown persons in an attempt to get him to change his testimony. The court also took into account that not all the witnesses had been heard by the trial court. On 19 August 2009 the Supreme Court dismissed an interlocutory appeal by the applicant. 20. On 27 May 2010 the Special Court extended the applicant’s detention until 13 December 2010. The court limited the grounds for his detention to the risk of his reoffending, because the trial court had already heard all witnesses. It stated that there was substantial evidence suggesting that the applicant was the leader of a criminal group which had operated systematically for several years, and therefore it was reasonable to assume that, if at liberty, he might continue with the criminal activities. The court further held that it was essential to protect victims and witnesses who had expressed a fear of the applicant when testifying at the trial. 21. On 10 June 2010 the Supreme Court dismissed an interlocutory appeal by the applicant. 22. On 23 June 2010 the applicant was convicted by the Special Court of establishing, masterminding and supporting a criminal group, four acts of extortion, three acts of aggravated coercion and fraud and was sentenced to twenty-five years’ imprisonment. He remained in detention pending the outcome of an appeal. 23. On 13 September 2010 a request for release lodged by the applicant was dismissed by the Special Court. The Supreme Court dismissed an interlocutory appeal by the applicant on 6 October 2010. 24. On 22 November 2010 the Supreme Court extended the applicant’s detention until 3 April 2011. 25. On 11 February 2011 the Supreme Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal against his conviction, which thereby became final. The applicant started to serve a prison sentence, and the time spent in detention was taken into account when calculating his prison term. 26. On 10 August 2010 the applicant filed a constitutional complaint (ústavná sťažnosť) against the Supreme Court’s decision of 10 June 2010 to dismiss his interlocutory appeal (see paragraph 21 above). Among other things, he complained that his detention was no longer justified, that it had lasted an excessively long time, and that the Supreme Court had not answered all the arguments raised in his interlocutory appeal (“the first constitutional complaint”). He complained under Article 5 §§ 3 and 4 and Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, and under their constitutional equivalents. 27. On 17 December 2010 he filed another constitutional complaint, alleging a lack of speediness in relation to the judicial review of his detention by the decisions of the Special Court of 13 September 2010 and the Supreme Court of 6 October 2010 (“the second constitutional complaint” – see paragraph 23 above). 28. On 27 October 2010 the Constitutional Court (Ústavný súd) accepted a part of the applicant’s first constitutional complaint for further examination, including the complaint regarding the length of his detention. It held that the formal requirements under sections 20 and 50 of the Constitutional Court Act had been satisfied. At the same time, it dismissed the rest of the complaint as manifestly ill-founded. 29. On 18 January 2011 the Constitutional Court accepted the second constitutional complaint for further examination, and joined the proceedings relating to the first and the second constitutional complaint. 30. On 8 December 2011 the Constitutional Court found a violation of the applicant’s rights under Article 5 § 4 of the Convention. It held that the Supreme Court, in its decision of 10 June 2010, had failed to respond to all of the applicant’s arguments. Although the Supreme Court had examined in detail the applicant’s arguments regarding the grounds for his detention, it had failed to respond to his other arguments, such as one about the impartiality and independence of the tribunal reviewing his detention, and another about alleged shortcomings in his representation during the judicial review, and thus the court had breached Article 5 § 4 of the Convention. The Constitutional Court further held that the judicial review of the applicant’s detention between 13 September and 6 October 2010 had not been sufficiently speedy, and found another violation of Article 5 § 4 of the Convention on this account. It quashed the Supreme Court’s decision of 10 June 2010 and awarded the applicant EUR 4,500 as just satisfaction. It did not order his release, since the applicant had been convicted in the meantime and had started to serve a prison term. The Constitutional Court considered it unnecessary to examine the rest of the applicant’s complaints, including the one under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention regarding the length of his detention. 31. Between the applicant’s arrest and the completion of the pre-trial investigation, the authorities conducted interviews with eighteen defendants, interviewed fifteen victims and twentythree witnesses, commissioned five expert opinions, analysed telecommunication recordings, conducted home searches and identity parades, and gathered a large amount of documentary evidence. 32. Between the lodging of the indictment with the trial court and the applicant’s conviction by the court of first instance, the trial court held hearings over the course of fifty-one days. The hearings were scheduled on a monthly or near monthly basis. 33. On 18 September 2008 the presiding judge of the Special Court appointed a substitute defence lawyer for the applicant to prevent the obstruction of court hearings. 34. On 15 December 2008 the presiding judge of the Special Court fined two of the applicant’s defence lawyers: one for failing to appear at three court hearings, and the other for obstructing justice.