CASE OF MIERZEJEWSKI v. POLAND
No violation of Article 5 - Right to liberty and security (Article 5-3 - Length of pre-trial detention)
Guido Raimondi;Krzysztof Wojtyczek;Ledi Bianku;Nona Tsotsoria;Päivi Hirvelä;Paul Mahoney
5. The applicant was born in 1987 and lives in Łomża. 6. On 7 March 2011 he was arrested on suspicion of committing a number of offences connected with handling drugs and psychoactive substances. 7. On 8 March 2011 the Rzeszów District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) remanded the applicant in custody for three months, until 7 June 2011. The court relied on a reasonable suspicion that the applicant had committed offences of serious nature and on the likelihood that a severe penalty would be imposed on him. The court did not share the prosecutor’s view that there was a reasonable risk that the applicant would obstruct the proceedings or that he would go into hiding. At this stage of the proceedings the applicant was not suspected of being a member of an organised criminal group. 8. The applicant’s lawyer appealed against the decision to detain him on remand. 9. On 14 April 2011 the Rzeszów Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) upheld the challenged decision. It agreed with the applicant’s lawyer’s view that the applicant had not engaged in any activity that might obstruct the proceedings. It found however that the severe penalty likely to be imposed on the applicant might create a risk that he would attempt to impede the proper conduct of the proceedings. 10. On 2 June 2011 the applicant’s detention on remand was extended by the Rzeszów Regional Court until 7 September 2011. The court referred to the applicant’s previous convictions which made the imposition of a severe penalty on him more probable. It also noted that, taking into consideration the complexity of the case in which 27 persons had already been apprehended, the proceedings had been conducted properly and without undue delays. The trial court had obtained expert witness opinions and it was still necessary to hear further evidence. 11. The applicant appealed and requested to vary the preventive measure applied to him. 12. On 30 June 2011 the Rzeszów Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) amended the challenged decision and ordered the applicant’s detention until 31 August 2011. The court agreed with the arguments relied on by the Regional Court. It found however that since the prosecutor had requested that the detention be extended until 31 August 2011, the Regional Court had had no right to extend it beyond that date. 13. On 24 August 2011 the Rzeszów Regional Court again extended the applicant’s detention for a further two months. The court still relied on the reasonable suspicion that the applicant committed the offences with which he had been charged and on the likelihood that a heavy penalty would be imposed on him. The prosecutor who requested extension of the detention relied on, among other things, the reasonable fear that the applicant might obstruct the proceedings. The Court referred to this part of the request and found that there were no grounds which would justify invoking this argument for the extension of the applicant’s detention. 14. The applicant appealed. 15. On 13 September 2011 the Rzeszów Court of Appeal upheld the challenged decision. 16. On 8 September 2011 the charges against the applicant were extended to include participation in an organised criminal group. 17. On 20 October 2011 the Rzeszów Regional Court extended the applicant’s detention until 30 November 2011. The court relied on the grounds previously invoked and, additionally, on the reasonable suspicion that the applicant might tamper with evidence and obstruct the proceedings which was based on the extended charges of being a member of an organised criminal group. The court further stressed that the proceedings had been conducted properly and without undue delays and their duration was attributable to objective reasons, namely the particular complexity of the case and the necessity to obtain evidence as regards organised criminal group consisting of numerous members. 18. On 7 November 2011 a bill of indictment against the applicant and several other coaccused was lodged with the Zamość Regional Court (case no. II K 71/11). The applicant was charged also with being a member of an organised criminal group. 19. On 23 November 2011 the Zamość Regional Court extended the applicant’s detention for three further months, until 29 February 2012. The courts relied on the same grounds as previously. They noted however that the charge of being a member of an organised criminal group justified the extension of the applicant’s detention with an additional reason, namely suspicion that he might obstruct the proceedings. 20. Further extensions of the applicant’s pretrial detention were ordered by the Zamość Regional Court on 24 August and 27 November 2012 and by the Lublin Court of Appeal on 6 March 2013. The Court of Appeal examined the course of the proceedings before the trial court and found that since September 2012 nine hearings had been held, they had been properly planned and each hearing had lasted the whole day. The court concluded that extending the detention beyond the statutory period of two years had proved necessary in view of the objective difficulties in concluding all indispensable activities in time. 21. On 5 June, 28 August and 4 December 2013 the Lublin Court of Appeal granted further extensions of the applicant’s detention. Each time the Court of Appeal examined the conduct of the proceedings, found no undue delays on the part of the trial court and concluded that extension of the detention beyond the statutory time-limit had been justified by the objective necessity of hearing further evidence. 22. The applicant’s lawyer appealed against the decision of 4 December 2013. He claimed that the court had failed to examine whether a less severe measure would be capable of securing the proper conduct of the proceedings. In this respect he referred to the fact that in November 2013 the court had ruled that the three other co-accused could be released on bail. 23. On 18 December 2013 the Lublin Court of Appeal granted the applicant’s lawyer’s request and amended the decision of 4 December finding that the detention could be lifted if a bail of 40,000 Polish zlotys was paid. 24. On 3 January 2014 the bail was paid and the applicant was released from detention. 25. On 14 January 2014 the Zamość Regional Court convicted the applicant and sentenced him to 5 years and 6 months of imprisonment. The charge of being a member of an organised criminal group was confirmed in the first instance judgment. 26. The criminal proceedings against the applicant are pending before the secondinstance court.