CEDH · PRESS;HEARINGS;ENG — 27 juin 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 } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .s76CF415B { page-break-before:always; clear:both } .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 } .sC7EAD8B { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:underline } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   378 27.6.2006   Press release issued by the Registrar   CHAMBER HEARING VINCENT v. FRANCE   The European Court of Human Rights is holding a Chamber hearing today 27 June 2006 at 2.30 p.m., on the admissibility and merits in the case of Vincent v. France (application no. 6253/03).   The applicant   The case concerns an application brought by a French national, Olivier Vincent, a 36 year-old French national who is currently in Villepinte Prison (France). He has been paraplegic since an accident in 1989 and, although autonomous, cannot move around without the aid of a wheelchair.   Summary of the facts   His application concerns the conditions of his detention and its compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights in view of his physical disability.   On 25 November 2002 the applicant was placed under formal investigation and detained in Nanterre Prison on suspicion of involvement in the abduction of a seven-month-old infant. He made various applications for bail that were dismissed. After initially being held in Nanterre Prison, the applicant was subsequently held in Fresnes Prison, Cergy-Pontoise Prison, Meaux-Chauconin Prison and La Santé Prison in Paris.   Since first entering prison, he has made various complaints to domestic and international bodies about his prison conditions.   He alleges that his cell in Nanterre Prison was not designed for wheelchairs and that he had practical difficulties in performing everyday tasks such as using mirrors or cupboards as a result. In addition, a wheelchair he was lent when his own fell into disrepair was not serviceable, so that he had been forced to drag himself across the floor on his hands, for example in order to go to the toilet.   He further complains that in February 2003 he was transferred to Fresnes Prison in a prison van that was not equipped to transport him and that the prison did not have the facilities to house disabled prisoners which meant that he had been unable to take part in sporting or religious activities and had been forced into dependency on others. On one occasion during his stay there, the Paris Court of Appeal had dismissed an appeal he had lodged against a refusal of bail in his absence, after he refused to get out of the prison van in order to protest about its unsuitability. The applicant said that he had lodged a complaint against the doctor who had authorised his transfer after she had told him that she was not “a vet” and did not deal with the “transport of animals”. His complaint is still pending.   The applicant was transferred to Cergy-Pontoise Remand Prison in June 2003. He said that he was unable to gain access to the prison library without assistance and also complained that he had been prevented from having a shower for more than a month after essential alterations to the unit were delayed.   In February 2005 he was transferred to Meaux Prison where he was given an individual cell adapted to his disability and was able to use a lift that enabled him to attend a medical centre on the first floor for medical attention when needed.   Since 21 March 2006 he has been held in Villepinte Prison, where he says that conditions are not suitable for his disability.   Complaints   The applicant complains under Articles 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights that the conditions in which he is being held are not suitable for his disability and that he does not enjoy the same rights as able-bodied prisoners. He further complains under Article 6 (right to a fair hearing) that the proceedings that ended with the dismissal of his appeal against the order for his detention were not fair. He alleges a violation of Article 17 (prohibition of abuse of rights) on account of the fact that a prison van and not an ambulance was used to transport him. Under Article 8 (right to respect for correspondence) he complains that a letter from the European Court of Human Rights was opened by the prison authorities. Under Article 9 (freedom of religion) he complains that he was prevented from attending his place of worship due to a lack of special facilities. Lastly, he complains under Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) that the authorities have failed to reply to his letters complaining of his detention conditions.   Procedure   The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 21 February 2003.   Composition of the Court   The case will be heard by a Chamber composed as follows:   András Baka (Hungarian), President , Jean-Paul Costa (French), Ireneu Cabral Barreto (Portuguese), Antonella Mularoni (San Marinese), Elisabet Fura-Sandström (Swedish), Danutė Jočienė (Lithuanian), Dragoljub Popović (Serbian), judges , Riza Türmen (Turkish), Mindia Ugrekhelidze (Georgian), substitute judges , and also Stanley Naismith , Deputy Section Registrar .   Representatives of the parties   Government :   Anne-Françoise Tissier , Agent,   Kim Reuflet, Catherine Joly , Anaïs Charbonnier, Fabienne Turpin , Advisers ;   Applicant :   Marie-Anne Soubre M’Barki , Counsel .   After the hearing the Court will begin its deliberations, which are held in private. A decision on admissibility, followed if appropriate by a judgment, will be delivered at a later date.     ***   Press Contacts 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)   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.