CEDH · PRESS;ADMISSIBILITYDECISIONS;ENG — 23 avril 2007

.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 } .sADADF4A7 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .sC7EAD8B { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:underline } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   251 23.4.2007   Press release issued by the Registrar   ADMISSIBILITY DECISION GÄFGEN v. GERMANY   A Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has declared admissible the application lodged in the case of Gäfgen v. Germany (application no. 22978/05). (The decision is available only in English.)   The Court’s admissibility decision in no way prejudges the merits of the applicant’s complaints. The Court will give a ruling in the coming months as to whether the facts complained of by the applicant entailed a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.   The applicant   The applicant, Magnus Gäfgen, is a German national who was born in 1975. He is currently in prison in Schwalmstadt (Germany).   Summary of the facts   In July 2003 the applicant was sentenced to life imprisonment for the abduction and murder of J., the youngest son of a well-known banking family in Frankfurt am Main.   The child, aged 11, had got to know the applicant, who at the time was a law student, through his sister. On 27 September 2002 the applicant lured J. into his flat by pretending that J.’s sister had left a jacket there. He then suffocated the child.   Subsequently, the applicant deposited a ransom demand at J.’s parents’ home, requiring them to pay one million euros to see their child again. He abandoned J.’s corpse under a bridge one hour’s drive away from Frankfurt.   On 30 September 2002 at around 1 a.m. Mr Gäfgen collected the ransom at a tram station. He was placed under police surveillance and was arrested by the security forces several hours later.   On 1 October 2002 one of the police officers responsible for questioning the applicant warned him that he would face considerable suffering if he persisted in refusing to disclose the child’s whereabouts. According to the applicant, the officer threatened, among other things, to lock him in a cell with people who would sexually abuse him. Further to these threats, the applicant confessed and disclosed where he had hidden the victim’s body.   On 28 July 2003 the applicant was found guilty of abduction and murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He lodged an appeal on points of law which was dismissed by the Federal Court of Justice on 21 May 2004. He subsequently lodged a complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court, which on 14 December 2004 refused to examine it.   Complaints   The applicant complained that he had been subjected to torture while being questioned, in that the police officers had threatened him with considerable suffering and rape. He further submitted that his right to not to incriminate himself had been infringed as his confession had been obtained under duress. He relied on Articles 3 (prohibition of torture) and 6 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights.   ***   The decision is available on the Court’s Internet site ( http://www.echr.coe.int ). 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) Tracey Turner-Tretz (telephone : 00 33 (0)3 88 41 35 30)   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.