CEDH · PRESS;GENERAL;ENG — 7 juin 2001

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .sA1D3DA2E { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify } .s94935B0F { width:389.85pt; display:inline-block } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .s76CF415B { page-break-before:always; clear:both } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .s7ED160F0 { text-decoration:none } .s33165EBA { font-family:Arial; font-size:8pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } .sD35C6159 { width:1.54pt; display:inline-block } .s38DD6A04 { width:18.2pt; display:inline-block } .sCB27B9E { width:16.66pt; display:inline-block } .sC5412BEF { width:51.05pt; display:inline-block } .sF6A12959 { width:33%; height:1px; text-align:left } .s2EB42ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt } .s653E6C45 { font-family:Arial; font-size:6.67pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS     403   7.6.2001   Press release issued by the Registrar   HEARING IN THE CASE OF H.D v. POLAND   Thursday 7 June 2001 at 9.30 a.m.   The applicant   The case concerns an application brought by Mrs H.D., a Polish national, who was born in 1952 and lives in Samice, Poland.   Summary of the facts   The applicant has diabetes and is on insulin.   On 19 August 1994 she was arrested by policemen from the Warsaw-East Railway Police Station ( Komisariat Kolejowy Policji ) and then taken to the Warsaw Sobering-up Centre ( Izba Wytrzeźwień ). The facts surrounding her arrest and her stay in the sobering-up centre are in dispute. The applicant claims she was brutally beaten up by the policemen who arrested her and that, at the sobering-up centre, she was tied to a bed and refused insulin injections. She further claims that, when she complained to a doctor at the centre that she had been beaten up, he replied “they should have beaten you even more badly”.   The next day, after being released from the centre, the applicant consulted a forensic expert who ascertained that she had six blue bruises on her legs ranging from 4 cm x 4.4 cm to 20cm x 19 cm in size. Later, the Warsaw District Prosecutor conducted an investigation into the applicant's allegations of ill-treatment, which was discontinued on 13 November 1995. The prosecution authorities considered that her injuries had been caused by “her aggressive behaviour and the policemen's attempts to deal with it”. They also found that the use of physical force against her had been lawful.   Complaints   The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) that she was beaten by the police officers while she was feeling weak and badly affected by her illness. She further submits that the doctors and the staff of the sobering-up centre treated her in an inhuman and degrading manner, that they completely disregarded the fact that she was suffering from hypoglycaemia, ignored her requests for an insulin injection and her complaints that she had been brutally beaten up by the policemen. She also complains under Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security) that her detention in the sobering-up centre was unlawful and unjustified.     Procedure   The application was lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights on 4 October 1995. On 2 March 1998 the Commission gave notice of the application to the Polish Government.   Subsequently, under the provisions of Protocol No. 11 to the Convention, the case was transmitted to the Court and allotted to the Fourth Section. After obtaining the parties' written observations, the Court decided to hold a hearing on the admissibility and merits of the case.   Composition of the Court   The case will be heard by a Chamber composed as follows:   Georg Ress (German), President , Antonio Pastor Ridruejo (Spanish), Lucius Caflisch [1] (Swiss), Jerzy Makarczyk (Polish), Ireneu Cabral Barreto (Portuguese), Nina Vajić (Croatian), Matti Pellonpää (Finnish), judges , Volodymyr Butkevych (Ukrainian), John Hedigan (Irish), Snejana Botoucharova (Bulgarian), substitute judges ,   and also Vincent Berger , Section Registrar .   Representatives of the parties   Government:   Mr Krzysztof Drzewicki, Agent , Ms Małgorzata Wąsek-Wiaderek and Ms Urszula Wieczorek , Advisers ;   Applicant:   Mr Wojciech Hermeliński , Counsel .   After the hearing the Court will begin its deliberations, which are held in private. The decision on the admissibility of the application will be made available at a later date.   Registry of the European Court of Human Rights F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex Contacts:   Roderick Liddell (telephone: (0)3 88 41 24 92)   Emma Hellyer (telephone: (0)3 90 21 42 15) Fax: (0)3 88 41 27 91   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. On 1 November 1998 a full-time Court was established, replacing the original two-tier system of a part-time Commission and Court. [1] Judge elected in respect of Liechtenstein.