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The ECHR condemns Spain for questioning an Etarra without his lawyer

2022-01-18T11:37:13.983Z


The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday (January 18th) condemned Spain for police interrogations of a member of the organization...


The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday (January 18th) condemned Spain for police interrogations of a member of the Basque separatist organization ETA without the presence of his lawyer, during his incommunicado detention.

Read alsoThe ECHR singles out Portugal for the “disproportionate” conviction of a journalist

The case concerns the incommunicado provisional detention of Javier Atristain Gorosabel and the interrogations he underwent at the end of 2010, without the assistance of his lawyer. During these interrogations, he had made statements which incriminated himself and were among the grounds on which he had been convicted of terrorist crimes. Javier Atristain Gorosabel is currently serving a 17-year prison sentence for membership of a terrorist organization and possession of explosives.

The ECHR notes first of all that “

the incommunicado detention order was provided for by the relevant law, but it was too general

” in the case of Javier Atristain Gorosabel. "

From the point of view of the fairness of the proceedings as a whole, the fact of having prevented the applicant's court-appointed lawyer from seeing his client at the appropriate time and of having prevented the latter from being assisted by a defender of his choice had the consequence of undermining the fairness of the subsequent criminal trial

”, adds the judicial body of the Council of Europe. Certainly,the Spanish Code of Criminal Procedure was amended in 2015 and “

now imposes an individual assessment of the particular situation of persons held incommunicado

”, but “

this amendment did not apply at the relevant time

”.

The Court therefore finds a violation of Article 6, paragraphs 1 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, on the right to a fair trial, and the right to legal assistance of one's own choosing. .

Spain must pay the applicant 12,000 euros for non-pecuniary damage and 8,000 euros for costs and expenses.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-01-18

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