6.  On 21 November 2016 the Civil and Criminal Court (Tribunale Civile e Penale) of Rome decided to issue a warrant for the applicant’s arrest, as he was suspected of tax evasion, money laundering, embezzlement and membership of a transnational criminal organisation. On 13 December 2016, via a “Red Notice” issued through Interpol, the Italian judicial authorities requested the applicant’s provisional arrest (voorlopige aanhouding) for the purpose of extradition. On the same day the applicant was arrested in Sint Maarten, brought before the Procurator General (procureur-generaal) and detained in Philipsburg Police Station.
7.  On 15 December 2016 the applicant was brought before the investigating judge (rechter-commissaris), who found the continuance of the applicant’s provisional arrest lawful.
8.  In the days following his arrest the applicant was visited several times by a doctor, who found that the applicant had received treatment for a malignancy on his tongue in 2015, and that this should be monitored regularly. In addition, the applicant’s blood pressure was too high. He was prescribed medication, and after a few days the applicant’s blood pressure had sufficiently decreased. According to a letter from the doctor to the public prosecutor, dated 23 December 2016, the applicant was in good health, was not experiencing any exacerbations of past ailments at that time, and his blood pressure was responding well to medical treatment. The doctor concluded that there were no medical impediments to the applicant’s detention.
9.  On 19 December 2016 the applicant lodged an application with the Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (Gemeenschappelijk Hof van Justitie van Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten en van Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba, hereinafter “the Joint Court”), requesting the suspension of his detention. The applicant argued under Article 5 § 1(f) of the Convention that deprivation of liberty should be the ultimum remedium, in that a person should only be deprived of his liberty when this was strictly necessary and the aim pursued could not be achieved in a less restrictive manner. In his opinion, his fragile state of health and considerable business interests in Sint Maarten opposed (a continuation of) his detention. The Procurator General opposed suspension of the applicant’s detention, arguing that there was a high risk of absconding, given that the applicant was a wealthy businessman in whose home two identity cards from Columbia and the Dominican Republic had been found during a search, and that he had use of a private jet in the United States of America. Against this background, only deprivation of liberty could prevent the applicant from finding ways to evade extradition.
10.  On 20 December 2016 the Sint Maarten prosecution authorities apparently decided to transfer the applicant from Sint Maarten to Curaçao, another country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The applicant filed an appeal against that decision with the Joint Court.
11.  On 4 January 2017 the Joint Court rejected the applicant’s request for suspension of his detention. It found that, under Article 5 § 4 of the Convention, it was competent to examine the lawfulness of the applicant’s detention. It noted that the applicant had not established that he was unable to receive adequate medical care in detention or that his business interests were at risk. It further took into account that the Italian authorities had not yet filed a formal extradition request, whereas the forty-day time-limit for doing so under Article 16 § 4 of the European Convention on Extradition had not yet expired. The Joint Court, taking all interests at stake into consideration – including the Procurator General’s substantiated claim that there was a high risk of absconding – decided to reject the applicant’s request for suspension of his detention. No further appeal lay against that decision.
12.  On 12 January 2017 the formal request for the applicant’s extradition to Italy, dated 30 December 2016, was received by the Minister Plenipotentiary of Sint Maarten (Gevolmachtigd Minister van Sint Maarten).
13.  On 3 February 2017 the Procurator General filed a request for the applicant’s extradition with the Joint Court. A hearing was initially fixed for 21 March 2017 but, at the applicant’s request, was rescheduled for 16 May 2017.
14.  On 7 February 2017 the applicant filed a fresh application with the Joint Court, requesting that his detention be either terminated or suspended. He argued, inter alia, that the prospects of his extradition being found permissible were at best highly doubtful, in the absence of guarantees by the Italian authorities that he would be allowed to serve a possible prison sentence in Sint Maarten or elsewhere in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and that a sentence imposed in Italy would be converted into a penal sanction prescribed by Dutch law for the same offence. He further argued that his serious health condition – considered in the light of the inadequate medical care and hygiene in the detention centres of Sint Maarten, as found by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) in various reports – and his considerable business interests necessitated suspension of his detention pending extradition. He lastly argued that the police cells in which he had been held since 13 December 2016 were neither intended nor suitable for longer periods of detention.
15.  On 22 February 2017 the Joint Court accepted the applicant’s appeal against the decision of 20 December 2016 to transfer him to Curaçao. It found that the Procurator General of Sint Maarten was not competent under the applicable statutory provisions to have free use of the detention facilities in other countries within the Kingdom. It therefore quashed the decision of 20 December 2016 and prohibited the Sint Maarten Public Prosecution Department or the Procurator General from transferring the applicant from his place of detention in Sint Maarten to another place of detention in another country within the Kingdom.
16.  On 8 March 2017 the Joint Court rejected the applicant’s request of 7 February 2017. As regards the permissibility of the extradition request, it considered that it could not act in anticipation of the actual extradition procedure. The question before it at that time concerned the lawfulness of the detention pending extradition. On this point, it found that all formalities for the applicant’s detention pending extradition had been satisfied. It noted that the Procurator General was opposed to terminating or suspending the detention, arguing that there was still a high risk of absconding. It further noted that the personal situation of the applicant relating to his medical situation and business interests – the grounds he relied on in his request – had already been taken into account in its decision of 4 January 2017, and it did not appear that, two months later, there were facts or circumstances which should lead to another conclusion. Lastly, the Joint Court saw no reason to grant the applicant bail.
17.  On 13 March 2017 the applicant was visited by a dentist, who diagnosed a gum/periodontal infection around a tooth which had to be extracted. In addition, the dentist prescribed antibiotics and a disinfectant for irritated gums. The dentist recommended that the applicant be provided with vitamin B and iron to cope with vitamin and mineral deficiencies. He further recommended that the applicant be seen by a dentist every three to four months to avoid similar infections. On 3 April 2017 the dentist reported that the infection had subsided but the build-up of plaque was already visible again, and this was probably due to the lack of possibilities for adequate oral hygiene.
18.  Meanwhile, on 21 March 2017 the applicant had lodged a new petition with the Joint Court, requesting either termination or suspension of his detention, or a transfer to the sickbay at Point Blanche Prison in Sint Maarten. Relying on a CPT report of 25 August 2015 (see paragraph 29 below) and the Court’s considerations in the case of Muršić v. Croatia ([GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 138-41, ECHR 2016), the applicant argued that there was at least a strong presumption that the conditions of his detention should be regarded as contrary to Article 3 of the Convention. On this point, he submitted that for three months he had been staying in a cell measuring 16 square metres which he often had to share with five or sometimes even six other persons. Furthermore, the cells were dark and unhygienic and there was a foul smell. He further submitted that the unhygienic circumstances had caused the infection diagnosed by the dentist on 13 March 2017.
19.  On 12 April 2017 the Joint Court rejected the applicant’s request of 21 March 2017. It noted that the Procurator General opposed the request, submitting that it was a fact of common knowledge that the prison infrastructure of Sint Maarten offered room for improvement, but that this was the responsibility of the Minister of Justice of Sint Maarten. The applicant could be transferred to Curaçao, where the conditions of detention were better, but the applicant had opposed such a transfer. If he consented to a transfer, he could find himself a spacious single-occupancy cell in Curaçao within a matter of days. The Joint Court further noted that on two previous occasions it had considered and rejected requests filed by the applicant to suspend or terminate his detention, and it found no substantial change of (personal) circumstances warranting a different finding as regards the applicant’s deprivation of liberty. In this respect the Joint Court took into account that during the hearing on 4 April 2017, on which his request was examined, it was confirmed that the applicant by that time was no longer detained in a multi-occupancy cell, but in a single-occupancy cell, that he daily received vitamins and that, if he wished so, he could see a doctor or dentist. It also took into account that, in reply to an explicit question it had put to him about a possible voluntary transfer to Curaçao, the applicant had indicated that this was not an option for him. Lastly, it found no medical reason for the applicant to be transferred to the sickbay of Point Blanche Prison.
20.  On 20 April 2017 the applicant was visited by his general practitioner, who, in a written statement dated 23 April 2017, expressed surprise at the fact that the applicant had only been seen by a doctor once whilst in detention. The general practitioner found that the applicant’s blood pressure was too high. In addition, he found that the scar caused by the surgical removal of the malignancy on the applicant’s tongue could give cause for concern, and recommended that the applicant be seen by a specialist as soon as possible.
21.  On 20 June 2017, following a hearing held on 16 May 2017, the Joint Court declared the applicant’s extradition permissible on the basis of the facts as set out in the decision of 21 November 2016 of the Civil and Criminal Court of Rome, facts which also constituted criminal offences under the laws of Sint Maarten. Having found that the extradition request complied with the applicable formal and material requirements, the Joint Court advised the Governor (Gouverneur) of Sint Maarten to proceed with the applicant’s extradition to Italy. The applicant filed an appeal in cassation with the Supreme Court (Hoge Raad).
22.  On 23 June 2017 the Joint Court rejected a fourth request by the applicant for suspension of his detention pending extradition. The applicant had filed that request during the hearing of 16 May 2017, arguing, inter alia, that his detention was not or was no longer compatible with his rights under Article 3, Article 5 and Article 6 § 2 of the Convention because of the deplorable conditions and duration of his detention, and the lack of justification for his detention. The Joint Court noted, amongst other things, that the applicant was a very wealthy man who had travelled extensively in the past and who apparently had close ties with the Dominican Republic, from where extradition would not be possible. It further noted that the applicant had been detained at Philipsburg Police Station since his arrest because, being a wealthy man, he could not be held in the remand centre of Point Blanche Prison for safety reasons, which, in the circumstances, justified his detention at the Philipsburg Police Station. In respect of the duration of his detention at that facility, the Joint Court noted that, although on legal grounds it had prohibited the Sint Maarten Prosecution Department from transferring the applicant – who had fiercely opposed such a transfer – to a place of detention in another country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, it remained open to the applicant to consent voluntarily to such a transfer. It further held that, despite the critical submissions of the defence about the applicant’s conditions of detention, and taking all circumstances of the case at hand into account, the detention situation was not unlawful.
23.  On 4 August 2017, after the applicant had withdrawn his appeal in cassation on 21 July 2017 without indicating any specific reason, the Governor of Sint Maarten approved the applicant’s extradition. On 16 August 2017 the applicant was extradited to Italy.