CEDH · PRESS;HEARINGS;ENG — 25 janvier 2006

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s40F41F73 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .s76CF415B { page-break-before:always; clear:both } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .s69BE285C { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:85.05pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-85.05pt } .s9A223E1B { width:11.03pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .s595A57E4 { width:85.05pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .s3CED24E9 { width:27.05pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .s9F8EB0C0 { width:18.63pt; display:inline-block } .s9E97F54A { width:85.05pt; display:inline-block } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   39 25.1.2006   Press release issued by the Registrar   GRAND CHAMBER HEARING RAMIREZ SANCHEZ v. FRANCE   The European Court of Human Rights is holding a Grand Chamber hearing today 25 January 2006 at 9 a.m., in the case of Ramirez Sanchez v. France (application no. 59450/00).   The applicant   Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as “Carlos the Jackal is a Venezuelan national aged 56 who is currently detained in Clairvaux Prison (France).   Summary of the facts   The applicant was placed under investigation in connection with a series of terrorist attacks carried out in France and sentenced to life imprisonment on 25 December 1997 for the murder of three police officers in 1975.   For eight years and two months – from his detention in Santé Prison on 15 August 1994 until his transfer to Saint-Maur Prison on 17 October 2002 – the applicant was held in solitary confinement. The reasons generally given to justify the decisions to prolong his detention in solitary confinement were his dangerousness, the need to maintain order and security in the prison and the risk of his absconding. On each occasion, the applicant underwent medical examinations to determine his fitness for solitary confinement.   This regime meant that the applicant was detained alone in a cell measuring 6.84 square metres, which, he said, was dilapidated and poorly insulated. He had no contact with other prisoners or prison warders and was authorised to leave his cell only for a two-hour daily walk. The applicant further alleged that his only recreation was provided by newspapers and a rented television, and that he received no visits other than from his lawyers and, once a month, a cleric.   Complaints   The applicant complains that his prolonged solitary confinement from 15 August 1994 to 17   October 2002 violated Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The applicant also alleges that the authorities did not follow the correct procedure for prolonging his solitary confinement, in breach of Article   13 (right to an effective remedy).   Procedure   The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 20 July 2000 and declared admissible on 19 February 2004.   In a judgment of 27 January 2005 (see press release 038 from 2005), the Court held by four votes to three that there had been no violation of Article 3 and unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 13 of the Convention. The applicant requested that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber under Article 43 (referral to the Grand Chamber) and on 6 June 2005 the panel of the Grand Chamber accepted that request.   Composition of the Court   The case will be heard by the Grand Chamber composed as follows:   Luzius Wildhaber (Swiss), President , Christos Rozakis (Greek), Jean-Paul Costa (French), Nicolas Bratza (British), Boštjan M. Zupančič (Slovenian), Volodymyr Butkevych (Ukrainian), Josep Casadevall (Andorran) John Hedigan (Irish), Margarita Tsatsa-Nikolovska (citizen of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”), Kristaq Traja (Albanian), Lech Garlicki (Polish), Javier Borrego Borrego (Spanish), Elisabet Fura-Sandström (Swedish), Alvina Gyulumyan (Armenian), Renate Jaeger (German), Danute Jočienė (Lithuanian), Dragoljub Popović (citizen of Serbia and Montenegro), judges , Matti Pellonpää (Finnish), Corneliu Bîrsan (Romanian), Ján Šikuta (Slovakian), substitute judges , and also Erik Fribergh , Registrar .   Representatives of the parties   Government :   Edwige Belliard , Agent ,   Anne-Françoise Tissier , Counsel ,   Kim Keuflet, Philippe Obligis , Advisers ;   Applicant :   Isabelle Coutant Peyre, Francis Vuillemin , Counsel .   After the hearing the Court will begin its deliberations, which are held in private.   ***   Registry of the European Court of Human Rights F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex Press contacts:   Roderick Liddell (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 24 92)   Emma Hellyer (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 15)   Stéphanie Klein (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 21 54)   Beverley Jacobs (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 90 21 54 21) Fax: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 27 91   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. Since 1 November 1998 it has sat as a full-time Court composed of an equal number of judges to that of the States party to the Convention. The Court examines the admissibility and merits of applications submitted to it. It sits in Chambers of 7 judges or, in exceptional cases, as a Grand Chamber of 17 judges. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe supervises the execution of the Court’s judgments. More detailed information about the Court and its activities can be found on its Internet site.