PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 5270/04) against the Republic of Poland lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Polish national, Mr Grzegorz Drabek (“the applicant”), on 30 December 2003.

The Polish Government were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Wołąsiewicz of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On 19 April 2005 the President of the Fourth Section Court decided to communicate the application to the Government. Under the provisions of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, it was decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1963 and is presently detained in the Lublin Detention Centre.

A. The proceedings before the Opole Regional Court

On 17 July 2001 the Opole District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) ordered that the applicant be remanded in custody in view of a reasonable suspicion that he had committed armed robbery acting in an organised criminal group. The court also considered that the measure was justified by the severity of the penalty that could be expected and the need to secure the proper conduct of the investigation.

Subsequently, the Opole Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) prolonged the applicant’s detention on several occasions.

On 5 September 2002 the Wroclaw Court of Appeal, upon the prosecutor’s request, decided to prolong the applicant’s detention relying, in addition to the earlier grounds, on the complexity of the case.

On 21 December 2002, the applicant was indicted before the Opole Regional Court. The bill of indictment was directed against 22 co‑accused.

On 30 December 2002 the Opole Regional Court prolonged the applicant’s detention relying on the strong probability that the applicant and 13 co-accused had committed the offences with which he had been charged and the severity of the sentence that could be imposed. The court further submitted that only detention would secure the applicant’s appearance at the trial.

On 14 May 2003 the Regional Court made an application under Article 263 § 4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Kodeks postepowania karnego) to the Wroclaw Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) asking that the applicant’s detention be prolonged beyond the statutory time-limit of two years.

On 21 May 2003 the Wrocław Court of Appeal granted that application and prolonged the detention of the applicant until 27 November 2003. The Court justified its decision with reference to the reasonable suspicion that he had committed the offences and the complexity of the case which concerned an organised criminal group and involved several co‑accused.

At the hearing held by the Opole Regional Court on 22 October 2003 the applicant’s application for release was dismissed.

On 26 November 2003 the Court of Appeal, upon another application under Article 263 § 4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, prolonged the applicant’s detention until 22 January 2004. It reiterated the grounds previously given for keeping him in custody. The court also considered that, given the severity of the penalty that might be expected, the applicant might obstruct the proceedings.

That decision was upheld on appeal on 13 January 2004.

On 16 January 2004 the Wroclaw Court of Appeal further prolonged the applicant’s detention. The court stressed that, due to the complex nature of the case, the applicant should be kept in custody since the grounds previously given for his detention were still valid.

That decision was upheld on appeal on 10 February 2004. The Court of Appeal noted that the exemplary behaviour of the applicant during the proceedings ‑ the fact that he had confessed and had been clarifying important details concerning the alleged crimes - would justify releasing him from detention. Nevertheless, the court found that there were “pragmatic” reasons for keeping him in detention, since he had been simultaneously detained by the Lublin Regional Court in connection with another set of criminal proceedings. If released, the applicant would have been transferred to a detention centre in Lublin, which, in the Court’s view, would make it impossible to complete the trial.

On 8 April 2004 the Regional Court made yet another application asking the Court of Appeal to prolong the applicant’s detention. On 16 April 2004 the court granted that application, finding that the grounds given previously were still valid. The court particularly referred to the complexity of the case, the type of offences at issue and the severity of the anticipated penalty.

The applicant’s numerous applications for release and his appeals against the decisions prolonging detention were to no avail.

In total, the trial court held 43 hearings during which it heard 86 witnesses and the depositions of 130 other witnesses were read at the hearings. On 21 July 2004 the Opole Regional Court gave judgment. The applicant was convicted and sentenced to 3 ½ years’ imprisonment. On the same date the court decided to place the applicant under police supervision finding that, given his low sentence, there were no grounds for prolonging the applicant’s detention.

B. The proceedings before the Lublin Regional Court

On 21 November 2002 the Strzelce Opolskie District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) ordered that the applicant be remanded in custody in view of the existence of a reasonable suspicion that he had committed a robbery, the severity of the penalty which could be expected and the need to secure the proper conduct of the investigation.

Subsequently, the District Court prolonged the applicant’s detention on several occasions.

On 13 February 2003 the applicant was indicted before the Lublin Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy). The bill of indictment comprised numerous charges brought against 8 co-accused.

On 18 February and 14 October 2003 the Regional Court prolonged the applicant’s detention, finding that the grounds originally given for keeping him in custody were still valid. The court further decided to examine the applicant’s case separately due to the fact that the applicant was being simultaneously tried before the Opole Regional Court.

On 27 January and 6 April 2004 the Lublin Regional Court prolonged the applicant’s detention. The court gave identical grounds for continuing the applicant’s detention and dismissed his application for release for personal reasons.

It appears that the trial started on 6 October 2004.

The trial court held in total 7 hearings and on 30 May 2005 it gave judgment. The applicant was convicted of robbery and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e1
001-75892_a4_em1
CODE
DIRECT
5270/04
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-75892_a4_e2
001-75892_a4_em2
ORG
NO_MASK
Republic of Poland
ETHNIC
insert
001-75892_a4_e3
001-75892_a4_em3
DEM
NO_MASK
Polish national
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e4
001-75892_a4_em4
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Grzegorz Drabek
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e5
001-75892_a4_em5
DATETIME
QUASI
30 December 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e6
001-75892_a4_em6
ORG
NO_MASK
Polish Government
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e7
001-75892_a4_em7
PERSON
NO_MASK
Mr J. Wołąsiewicz
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e8
001-75892_a4_em8
ORG
NO_MASK
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e9
001-75892_a4_em9
DATETIME
QUASI
19 April 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e10
001-75892_a4_em10
DATETIME
QUASI
1963
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e11
001-75892_a4_em11
LOC
QUASI
Lublin Detention Centre
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e12
001-75892_a4_em12
ORG
QUASI
Opole Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e13
001-75892_a4_em13
DATETIME
QUASI
17 July 2001
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e14
001-75892_a4_em14
ORG
QUASI
Opole District Court (Sąd Rejonowy)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e15
001-75892_a4_em15
ORG
QUASI
Opole Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e16
001-75892_a4_em16
DATETIME
QUASI
5 September 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e17
001-75892_a4_em17
ORG
NO_MASK
Wroclaw Court of Appeal
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e18
001-75892_a4_em18
DATETIME
QUASI
21 December 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e12
001-75892_a4_em19
ORG
QUASI
Opole Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e19
001-75892_a4_em20
QUANTITY
NO_MASK
22
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e20
001-75892_a4_em21
DATETIME
QUASI
30 December 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e12
001-75892_a4_em22
ORG
QUASI
Opole Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e21
001-75892_a4_em23
QUANTITY
NO_MASK
13
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e22
001-75892_a4_em24
DATETIME
QUASI
14 May 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e23
001-75892_a4_em25
ORG
QUASI
Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e24
001-75892_a4_em26
MISC
NO_MASK
Article 263 § 4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Kodeks postepowania karnego)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e25
001-75892_a4_em27
ORG
QUASI
Wroclaw Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e26
001-75892_a4_em28
DATETIME
NO_MASK
two years
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e27
001-75892_a4_em29
DATETIME
QUASI
21 May 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e28
001-75892_a4_em30
ORG
QUASI
Wrocław Court of Appeal
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e29
001-75892_a4_em31
DATETIME
QUASI
27 November 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e12
001-75892_a4_em32
ORG
QUASI
Opole Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e30
001-75892_a4_em33
DATETIME
QUASI
22 October 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e31
001-75892_a4_em34
DATETIME
QUASI
26 November 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e32
001-75892_a4_em35
ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Appeal
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e33
001-75892_a4_em36
MISC
NO_MASK
Article 263 § 4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e34
001-75892_a4_em37
DATETIME
QUASI
22 January 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e35
001-75892_a4_em38
DATETIME
QUASI
13 January 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e36
001-75892_a4_em39
DATETIME
QUASI
16 January 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e17
001-75892_a4_em40
ORG
NO_MASK
Wroclaw Court of Appeal
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e37
001-75892_a4_em41
DATETIME
QUASI
10 February 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e32
001-75892_a4_em42
ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Appeal
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e38
001-75892_a4_em43
ORG
QUASI
Lublin Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e39
001-75892_a4_em44
LOC
QUASI
Lublin
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e40
001-75892_a4_em45
DATETIME
QUASI
8 April 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e23
001-75892_a4_em46
ORG
QUASI
Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e32
001-75892_a4_em47
ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Appeal
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e41
001-75892_a4_em48
DATETIME
QUASI
16 April 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e42
001-75892_a4_em49
QUANTITY
NO_MASK
43
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e43
001-75892_a4_em50
QUANTITY
NO_MASK
86
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e44
001-75892_a4_em51
QUANTITY
NO_MASK
130
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e45
001-75892_a4_em52
DATETIME
QUASI
21 July 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e12
001-75892_a4_em53
ORG
QUASI
Opole Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e46
001-75892_a4_em54
DATETIME
QUASI
3 ½ years’
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e38
001-75892_a4_em55
ORG
QUASI
Lublin Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e47
001-75892_a4_em56
DATETIME
QUASI
21 November 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e48
001-75892_a4_em57
ORG
QUASI
Strzelce Opolskie District Court (Sąd Rejonowy)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e49
001-75892_a4_em58
ORG
NO_MASK
District Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e50
001-75892_a4_em59
DATETIME
QUASI
13 February 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e51
001-75892_a4_em60
ORG
QUASI
Lublin Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy)
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e52
001-75892_a4_em61
QUANTITY
NO_MASK
8
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e53
001-75892_a4_em62
DATETIME
QUASI
18 February and 14 October 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e23
001-75892_a4_em63
ORG
QUASI
Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e12
001-75892_a4_em64
ORG
QUASI
Opole Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-75892_a4_e54
001-75892_a4_em65
DATETIME
QUASI
27 January and 6 April 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e38
001-75892_a4_em66
ORG
QUASI
Lublin Regional Court
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e55
001-75892_a4_em67
DATETIME
QUASI
6 October 2004
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e56
001-75892_a4_em68
DATETIME
QUASI
30 May 2005
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-75892_a4_e57
001-75892_a4_em69
DATETIME
NO_MASK
three years
Grzegorz Drabek
POL
CHAMBER
Task: Annotate the document to anonymise the following person: Grzegorz Drabek