ŠTRLEKAR v. SLOVENIA
Inadmissible
András Sajó;Iulia Motoc;Marko Bošnjak;Nona Tsotsoria;Paulo Pinto De Albuquerque;Vincent A. De Gaetano;Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer
1. The applicant, Mr Gregor Štrlekar, is a Slovenian national who was born in 1986 and lives in Ljubljana. He is represented before the Court by Mr M. Verce, a lawyer practising in Ljubljana. 2. The Slovenian Government (“the Government”) are represented by their Agent, Mrs J. Morela, State Attorney. 3. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 4. The applicant has suffered from a psychotic disorder since 2008. He has mainly received outpatient psychiatric treatment; however, in 2010, he spent a week in a psychiatric hospital because of a delusional disorder and suicidal thoughts. 5. On 9 August 2013 the applicant was arrested by the police on suspicion of aggravated theft. The next day he was brought before the investigating judge of the Ljubljana District Court who opened a judicial investigation against him and ordered his detention. 6. From 10 August until 21 October 2013 the applicant was detained in the remand section of Ljubljana Prison. During this time, he was hospitalised in Ljubljana Psychiatric Hospital from 15 until 20 August 2013. 7. On 30 August 2013 the applicant’s court-appointed counsel wrote a letter to the remand section of Ljubljana Prison, informing the authorities that the applicant had written a number of letters to her in which he mentioned having had suicidal thoughts. Accordingly, the counsel asked the prison authorities to provide her with a copy of the applicant’s medical documents and to inform her of his mental condition. 8. On 16 September 2013 the investigating judge of the Ljubljana District Court appointed an expert in psychiatry to give his opinion on whether the applicant had been capable of understanding the nature and effect of his actions at the time of the events in issue and whether he was capable of participating in the proceedings. 9. At the expert’s recommendation, the court ordered, on 21 October 2013, that the applicant be transferred to the forensic psychiatric unit of Maribor University Medical Centre (hereinafter “the Psychiatric Unit”) for the purpose of further observation and diagnosis. On his admission to the Psychiatric Unit, on 22 October 2013, he was placed in the most secure area, a three-bed room which could be monitored through a glass window. He had access to a large hallway shared by twelve patients which led to, inter alia, bathrooms, a living room, a doctor’s office and a smoking room. On his first day in the Psychiatric Unit he was assessed by Dr. M.P. On 25 and 29 October 2013 he was assessed by Dr. T.C.S. and Dr. A.F.C. respectively. The doctors noted that the applicant had reported occasional hallucinations and had mentioned a previous suicide attempt, but they considered that he was not acutely psychotic and did not at that time have suicidal tendencies. On 30 October 2013 Dr. A.F.C. noted that the applicant had, according to the Psychiatric Unit’s guards, been testing the fence and windows in the yard. Citing attempts he had previously made to abscond, the doctor noted that the applicant would no longer be allowed to access the yard. 10. On 3 November 2013, at around 9 p.m. the applicant jumped through the window in the smoking room and landed on the concrete staircase leading to the basement. On 3 November 2013, following the incident, a report was prepared by the special security officer, Mrs B.V.V. Another report was prepared by four staff members on 4 November 2013. The reports were based on the observations of the staff, an inspection of the premises and interviews with patients. The reports found that the applicant, with the help of some of the patients, had displaced the bars on the window by loosening the screws. The applicant had then used a sheet to lower himself from the second to the first floor. One of the patients had then untied the sheet from the second-floor window so that the applicant was able to tie it to the first-floor window in order to climb down from the first floor. During the latter attempt he had landed on the staircase, which had not been visible from the window and could therefore not have been anticipated by the applicant. According to the above-mentioned reports, as well as the medical report drawn up by Dr. A.F.C., following the jump the applicant had been found lying on the concrete floor under the window, unable to move, and complaining that he was in pain. Two medical officers had come to his assistance and had shortly thereafter been joined by Dr. A.F.C. and other health professionals from the Psychiatric Unit who had administered first aid to him and called for an ambulance. As the paramedics had been positioning the applicant on the stretcher and cutting through his pajamas, they had found that he had been wearing civilian clothes underneath. The applicant, accompanied by a security officer, had been taken to hospital. Furthermore, upon an inspection of the smoking room, it had been found that the bar covering the window had shifted (one of the screws holding it in place having been removed) and a sheet was hanging from the window (which is clearly visible in the photos attached to the reports and submitted to the Court). According to the reports, a patient, Mr D.T., had told the staff that the applicant had earlier asked him for a hex key and that another patient, Mr. Z.H., had helped the applicant with his escape; Mr Z.H. denied this. The special security officer who drew up the report of 3 November 2013 also noted in that report that immediately after the incident she had seen a car with four young men waiting next to the Psychiatric Unit building. According to her report, the men had driven off after being approached by her. 11. The applicant denied that he had attempted to escape and alleged that the incident of 3 November 2013 was in reality a suicide attempt. In a letter of 11 March 2014, which he sent to his lawyer for the purposes of the legal proceedings, he explained that he had put on pajamas over his sweatshirt and sweatpants because he had been feeling cold. In that letter he further denied that there had been any sheets hanging from the window and accused the police officers and the medical staff of the Psychiatric Unit of lying in order to avoid their responsibility for the incident. He also alleged that he had been maltreated, strapped to the bed, and forcibly medicated and that because of this he had attempted to kill himself. 12. As a result of the above-mentioned fall, the applicant sustained a number of injuries, including a fracture of a lumbar vertebra and fractures of both heel bones (calcanei), and suffered temporary paralysis. His lumbar vertebra was operated on immediately after the fall. On 5 November 2013 he was transferred from the intensive care unit to the traumatology unit, where he stayed until 23 December 2013. 13. In the meantime, on 18 December 2013, the applicant lodged an application (no. 256/14) with the Court complaining about the overcrowding, inadequate ventilation and limited out-of-cell time allowed to inmates in Ljubljana Prison during the period from 10 August 2013 to 21 October 2013. On 28 January 2015 he further complained to the Court about inadequate conditions in the Psychiatric Unit during the period from 22 October 2012 until 16 January 2014. 14. Meanwhile, on 23 December 2013 the applicant was examined by an expert psychiatrist, who judged that he was able to participate in the trial. On the same day he was again detained in the Psychiatric Unit, from where he was released on 16 January 2014. The medical discharge letter noted that the applicant was not psychotic and was not at risk of suicide. 15. According to the Government’s submissions, Mrs B.S.H., the mother of a detainee who had spent one day in the Psychiatric Unit, complained to the police in February 2014 in general terms about the “torture and overdosing” of the patients by the Psychiatric Unit’s staff. Mrs B.S.H. also mentioned that one of the patients, identified as the applicant, had – according to her son – jumped through a window after undergoing two days of torture. On 9 March 2015 the Maribor district prosecutor’s office issued a decision dismissing the complaint, a copy of which was sent to the applicant. The prosecutor’s office noted that on the basis of her allegations the Medical Chamber of Slovenia had reviewed the medical files of the relevant patients, including the applicant, on 24 June 2004. It reiterated the findings of the above-mentioned reports of 3 and 4 November 2013 (see paragraph 10 above), as summarised by the Medical Chamber, noting that they showed that the applicant had undoubtedly attempted to escape and not to commit suicide. 16. From 17 February 2014 until 4 April 2014 the applicant underwent rehabilitation in the Soča University Rehabilitation Institute. When discharged he was able to walk with aid of crutches.