The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday condemned France for having handed over to Romania a man subject to a European arrest warrant (EAW), despite possible poor future conditions of detention.
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The seven judges unanimously considered that the French authorities had violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibiting inhuman and degrading treatment.
The "
elements of information collected (on the future conditions of detention of the applicant in Romania, editor's note) nevertheless constituted a sufficiently solid factual basis for them to refuse to carry out the disputed EAW
," explained in a press release. judicial body of the Council of Europe.
The applicant is a Romanian sentenced in 2015 in Romania to seven years and six months of imprisonment "
for acts of trafficking in human beings committed during 2010 in Romania and in France
", indicates the ECHR.
This man returned to France after his trial and in April 2016 Romania issued a European arrest warrant for him to serve his prison sentence.
The man challenged the judgment deciding his surrender to the Romanian authorities, insisting on the conditions of his future detention in Romania, but his appeal was rejected and it was finally handed over to the Romanian authorities in August 2016.
However, "
the applicant produced before the domestic courts elements attesting to systemic or generalized failures within the penitentiary establishments of the issuing State
" and "
in particular, of the establishment of Gherla (northern Romania, editor's note) ), center in which the Romanian authorities planned to imprison him
”, underlines the ECHR.
France is ordered to pay the applicant 5,000 euros for non-pecuniary damage.
"
This is the first time that the ECHR has condemned a state for having executed a European arrest warrant,
" Nicolas Hervieu, a specialist in European law, indicated on Twitter.
What the court confirmed to AFP.
On the other hand, in the same judgment, the surrender to Romania of another national subject to a European arrest warrant was not found to be contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights.
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