CASE OF MARTZAKLIS AND OTHERS v. GREECE
Remainder inadmissible;Violation of Article 3 - Prohibition of torture (Article 3 - Degrading treatment;Inhuman treatment) (Substantive aspect);Violation of Article 14+3 - Prohibition of discrimination (Article 14 - Discrimination) (Article 3 - Degrading treatment;Inhuman treatment;Prohibition of torture);Violation of Article 13+3 - Right to an effective remedy (Article 13 - Effective remedy) (Article 3 - Inhuman punishment;Inhuman treatment;Prohibition of torture);Non-pecuniary damage - award (Article 41 - Non-pecuniary damage;Just satisfaction)
Erik Møse;Julia Laffranque;Khanlar Hajiyev;Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos;Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska;Paulo Pinto De Albuquerque
5. The applicants are HIV-positive, with a minimum degree of disability of 67%. They are, or were, detained in Aghios Pavlos Hospital (psychiatric section) at Korydallos Prison. 6. Andreas Martzaklis: imprisoned on 7 May 2011 and detained pursuant to a judgment delivered by the Athens Criminal Court, a decision given by the Indictments Division of the Khalkida Criminal Court in 2010 ordering the execution of a sentence passed by the Athens Criminal Court of Appeal which had been stayed, and a judgment delivered by the Athens Court of Appeal sentencing him to four years’ imprisonment. Detained as a convicted prisoner at the time of the application to the Court. Released on licence on 8 May 2013 but rearrested the same day and placed in preventive detention. 7. Christos Sarris: provisionally detained from 5 December 2011 to 14 December 2012, and detained by judgment of 14 December 2012 sentencing him to 6 years’ imprisonment and then by judgment of 19 March 2014 sentencing him to 6 years and 4 months’ imprisonment. Detained as a convicted prisoner at the time of the application to the Court. Released on licence on 9 May 2014 pursuant to section 19 of Act No. 4242/2014. 8. Christos Efstathiou: imprisoned on 14 February 2011. Detained pursuant to a decision given by the Indictments Division of the Khalkida Criminal Court on 22 December 2008, ordering the execution of the remainder of a sentence with suspensive effect, and pursuant to a judgment delivered by Athens Criminal Court, which merged the sentences into a total of 25 months. Detained as a convicted prisoner at the time of the application to the Court. Released on licence on 26 June 2014 pursuant to Article 105 of the Criminal Code. 9. Efthymios Karatzoglou: imprisoned on 18 July 2011. Detained pursuant to a judgment delivered by the Piraeus Criminal Court of Appel on 12 April 2013 sentencing him to two years and eight months’ imprisonment. Detained as a convicted prisoner at the time of the application to the Court. Released on licence on 15 May 2013 pursuant to section 1 of Act No. 4043/2012. 10. Achilleas Papadiotis: imprisoned on 17 February 2011. Detained pursuant to a judgment delivered by the Athens Criminal Court of Appeal on 10 June 2013 sentencing him to 10 years and 4 months’ imprisonment (starting date for serving the sentence: 8 December 2012). Detained as a convicted prisoner at the time of the application to the Court. Transferred to Patras Prison on 6 October 2014. 11. Dimitrios Nikolopoulos: imprisoned on 20 August 2012 and detained pursuant to a judgment delivered by the Athens Criminal Court of Appeal on 9 February 2012 sentencing him to 10 years’ imprisonment, and a judgment delivered by the Athens Criminal Court on 1 December 2010 sentencing him to three months’ imprisonment. Detained as a convicted prisoner at the time of the application to the Court. Placed in Aghios Pavlos Hospital. 12. Spyridon Petrenitis: detained since 18 April 2012 pursuant to a judgment delivered by the Larissa Court of Appeal on 1 April 2013 sentencing him to two years’ imprisonment. Detained as a convicted prisoner at the time of the application to the Court. Released on licence on 23 May 2013 under section 1 of Act No. 4043/2012. 13. Chrysafis Chatzikos: imprisoned on 13 July 2012 and detained ever since under the following decisions: 17 March 2010 judgment of the Athens Criminal Court sentencing him to ten months imprisonment; 23 February 2012 judgment of the Athens Criminal Court sentencing him to seven months’ imprisonment; 24 February 2012 judgment of the Athens Criminal Court sentencing him to ten months’ imprisonment; 8 June 2012 decision of the Indictments Division of the Chios Criminal Court ordering the execution of the remainder of a sentence with suspensive effect which had been passed by the Athens Criminal Court on 31 August 2011; and 5 April 2013 judgment of the Athens Criminal Court of Appeal sentencing him to 18 years’ imprisonment (in provisional detention from 16 August 2012 to 5 April 2013). 14. Christos Dorizas: imprisoned on 21 September 2012 and detained pursuant to a judgment delivered by the Piraeus Criminal Court of Appeal on 11 November 2011, sentencing him to ten years’ imprisonment, followed by a judgment delivered by the same court on 14 December 2012 sentencing him to fifteen months’ imprisonment. Detained as a convicted prisoner at the time of the application to the Court and constantly since then. 15. Panagiotis Kormalis: imprisoned on 25 July 2012 and detained pursuant to a judgment delivered by the Crete Criminal Court of Appeal on 10 June 2013 sentencing him to five years and three months’ imprisonment. Detained as a convicted prisoner at the time of the application to the Court. Released on licence on 17 March 2014 under section 19 of Act No. 4242/2014. His release warrant mentioned that he had contracted AIDS. 16. Aimilianos Chamitoglou: imprisoned on 5 April 2012 and detained: first of all, under a provisional detention order of 1 October 2013 (on charges of armed robbery); and secondly, pursuant to a judgment delivered by the Athens Court of Appeal on 25 February 2014 sentencing him to six years’ imprisonment (beginning on 27 March 2012). On 10 February 2014 the Athens Criminal Court of Appeal acquitted him of the armed robbery charge. Released on licence on 17 March 2014 under section 19 of Act No. 4242/2014. 17. Antonios Poulopoulos: imprisoned on 19 August 2011 and detained pursuant to a judgment delivered by the Athens Criminal Court of Appeal on 20 June 2012 sentencing him to six years’ imprisonment. Detained as a convicted prisoner at the time of the application to the Court. Released on licence on 13 September 2013 under Article 105 of the Penal Code. 18. Nikolaos Drosakis: imprisoned on 24 April 2012. Detained pursuant to a decision given by the Indictments Division of the Nafplio Criminal Court on 17 October 2012, and to the judgments of the Nafplio Criminal Court of Appeal and the Athens Criminal Court of Appeal of February and 24 April 2013 respectively, sentencing him to various prison terms. Detained as a convicted prisoner at the time of the application to the Court. Released on licence on 26 March 2014 under section 1 of Act No. 4043/2012. Has since returned to prison. 19. According to the information supplied by the applicants who had been convicted under court judgments, which information was not disputed by the Government, the courts had not granted suspensive effect to their appeals (see Article 497 § 4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). 20. In a petition transmitted on 5 October 2012 under Article 572 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to the supervising public prosecutor responsible for Korydallos Prison, forty-five HIV-positive persons detained in the Aghios Pavlos Hospital, including the applicants, complained of their conditions of detention on the second floor of that hospital. They drew attention to the overcrowded premises, the uncontrolled admission of new patients, and the fact that they were held with other detainees suffering from cancer, asthma, hepatitis, venereal diseases, bronchitis, scabies, psoriasis and even tuberculosis, which diseases necessitated confinement to individual cells because several of them were transmissible. A small quantity of cream had been distributed to some of the HIV-positive detainees who were also affected with scabies. They had been advised to change their sheets and underwear every day and to wash them at high temperatures, even though the washing machine was out of order. When they had gone to fetch their medication the nurses had told them not to touch the bars through which they handed over the medicines in order to prevent the risk of infection. The administrative and medical staff had not given the detainees any official information in order to minimise the seriousness of the epidemic. 21. On 12 October 2012 the supervising public prosecutor had informed the detainees that “only 15 persons” were suffering from scabies. Relying on Article 6 of the Prison Code the HIV-positive detainees, including the applicants, had also complained to the Prison Hospital Board, but had received no reply. 22. A delegation of HIV-positive detainees had been received by the supervising public prosecutor to draw attention to the constantly increasing numbers of persons detained in the Aghios Pavlos Hospital and the intolerable conditions of detention. 23. The applicants submitted that the cells were so overcrowded that the personal space available for each detainee was less than 2 m², including beds and sanitary facilities. 24. The bathrooms fell short of minimum hygiene standards and cleaning in the premises was left to the discretion of the few HIV-positive persons in receipt of an allowance enabling them to purchase cleaning products. 25. The food was so poor in nutritional value that HIV-positive detainees risked developing AIDS owing to physical debilitation. 26. The premises were under-heated, and detainees were exposed to low temperatures, particularly at night. 27. Nor had the problem of smoking been resolved. Several detainees smoked in the communal areas, the cells and the dormitories, and the non-smokers, especially those with respiratory problems, became passive smokers. 28. The hospital staff did not include any infectious disease specialists, which placed HIV-positive detainees at risk because they were diagnosed by non-specialists. 29. During the distribution of medicines the nurse, wearing gloves, left the boxes on the floor outside the cell bars, and the HIV-positive persons had to stretch through the bars to retrieve them, avoiding touching the others, as recommended by the nurse. 30. The applicants also complained about the fact that diagnoses were conducted automatically and that the doctors always prescribed the same medicines without individually examining each patient. Any requisite transfers to outside hospitals were always carried out after long delays. Distribution of medication prescribed for some of the applicants was often interrupted without explanation for periods of between one week and one month. Other applicants had not yet begun their treatment, which delay the doctors explained by claiming that “the limit [regarding the presence of the virus in the blood] necessitating the initiation of treatment has increased”. 31. The applicants also complained of a lack of access to the outside world, news programmes and even use of the telephone, and the fact that the detainees were not held separately from the convicted prisoners. 32. Lastly, the applicants stated that a video on conditions of detention had been leaked in November 2014 and had induced the prosecutor with the Court of Cassation to order an inquiry, which was currently under way. ...