CEDH · PRESS;HEARINGS;ENG — 13 mai 2008

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FRANCE   The European Court of Human Rights is holding a Chamber hearing today Tuesday 13   May 2008 at 9   a.m. , on the admissibility and the merits in the case of Medvedyev and Others v.   France (application no. 3394/03).   The hearing will be broadcast from 2.30 p.m. on the Court’s Internet site ( http://www.echr.coe.int ).     The applicants   The applicants are Oleksandr Medvedyev and Borys Bilenikin, Ukrainian nationals, Nicolae Balaban, Puiu Dodica, Nicu Stelian Manolache and Viorel Petcu, Romanian nationals, Georgios Boreas, a Greek national, and Sergio Cabrera Leon and Guillermo Luis Eduar Sage Martinez, Chilean nationals.   Summary of the facts   They were crew members on a merchant ship named the Winner, flying the Cambodian flag. As part of the international effort to combat drug trafficking, the French authorities were informed that the ship might be carrying large quantities of drugs. By diplomatic telegram dated 7   June 2002, the French embassy in Phnom Penh informed the Ministry of Defence in Paris that the Cambodian Government had agreed to the French authorities intercepting the Winner .   On 13   June 2002 the French frigate sent to intercept the freighter spotted a merchant ship travelling at slow speed through the waters off Cape Verde. It was not flying a flag, but was identified as the Winner . During the interception operation the freighter manoeuvred to avoid the frigate while the crew jettisoned packages over the stern into the sea. One of those packages was later found to contain 80   to 100   kg of cocaine.   Only after a number of shots had been fired – first warning shots then shots over its bow – did the Winner stop. A commando team boarded the ship and took control of it by force. The crew were confined to their quarters under military guard. On instructions from the French authorities, a tug was sent out to tow the Winner into Brest harbour.   An investigation was opened by the Brest public prosecutor on 13   June 2002. It emerged that the Greek coastguard had had the Winner under observation in connection with international drug trafficking in which Greek nationals were involved.   On 26   June 2002 the Winner entered Brest harbour under escort. The cargo was handed over to the French police and the crew were remanded in custody.   On 28   June 2002 the applicants Viorel Petcu, Puiu Dodica, Nicolae Balaban and Nicu Stelian Manolache were charged with leading a group with the aim of producing, manufacturing, importing, exporting, transporting, possessing, supplying, selling, acquiring or illegally using drugs, and conspiring to import and export drugs illegally. They were placed in detention pending trial. On 29   June 2002 the applicants Oleksandr Medvedyev, Borys Bilenikin, Georgios Boreas, Sergio Cabrera Leon and Guillermo Luis Eduar Sage Martinez and two other crew members were also charged and placed in detention.   They appealed for the evidence to be disallowed, complaining that the Winner had been arrested illegally and that their detention on board for 13   days had also been illegal. In a final judgment of 15   January 2003 the Court of Cassation dismissed their appeal, explaining that “Cambodia, the flag State, [had] expressly and unreservedly authorised the French authorities to arrest the Winner and that, in keeping with Article   17 of the Vienna Convention [1] , only the proper measures [had been] taken in respect of the persons on board, who [had been] lawfully remanded in custody as soon as they landed on French soil”.     In May 2005 the Ille-et-Vilaine special Assize Court found the applicants Georgios Boreas, Guillermo Sage Martinez and Sergio Cabrera Leon guilty of conspiring to import drugs illegally and sentenced them respectively to   20, ten and three years’ imprisonment. It acquitted the remaining applicants of the charges against them.   Complaint   Relying on Article   5 §   3 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights, the applicants allege that they were the victims of arbitrary deprivation of liberty. They submit that they were held prisoner on the Winner for 13   days under French military guard without any judicial authority supervising their detention, and that they were therefore not brought “promptly” before a judge. They also complained that the legal basis for their deprivation of liberty was unclear.   Procedure   The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 19   December 2002.   Composition of the Court   The case will be heard by a Chamber composed as follows:   Peer Lorenzen (Danish), President , Jean-Paul Costa (French), Karel Jungwiert (Czech), Renate Jaeger (German), Mark Villiger (Swiss) [2] , Isabelle Berro-Lefèvre (Monegasque), Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska (citizen of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”), judges , Volodymyr Butkevych (Ukrainian), Rait Maruste (Estonian), Zdravka Vladimirova Kalaydjieva (Bulgarian), substitute judges , and also Claudia Westerdiek , Section Registrar .   Representatives of the parties   Government :   Anne-Françoise Tissier , Agent ,   Mostafa Mihraje , Counsel ,   François Martineau , Elie Renard , Advisers ;   Applicants :   Patrice Spinozi , 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. [3]   Press contacts Emma Hellyer (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 15) Tracey Turner-Tretz (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 88 41 35 30) Paramy Chanthalangsy (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 54 91) Sania Ivedi (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 59 45)   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. [1] United Nations Convention against illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, done in Vienna on 20 December 1988 [2] Judge elected in respect of Liechtenstein. [3] This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.