4.  The applicant was born in 1987 and lives in Belgium. At the time of the events, he was studying at a university in Constanţa, where he had been since October 2006.
5.  On 3 April 2008 the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) attached to the Tulcea County prosecutor’s office opened a criminal investigation against O.D.A., a student at the same university as the applicant, on suspicion of drug trafficking.
6.  At around 1.30 p.m. on 18 April 2008 O.D.A. was caught trying to send by bus a package containing twelve LSD tabs in an undercover operation set up by DIICOT. The drugs were destined to reach an undercover agent who had previously contacted O.D.A. asking to buy drugs from him. O.D.A. was immediately taken to the Tulcea County police station, where he gave a written statement saying that he had “had” the drugs from the applicant. He also said in his statement that he had been informed that he was entitled to a lawyer but had waived this right.
7.  On the same date the case prosecutor submitted to the Tulcea County Court a request to search the residences of O.D.A. and the applicant. In the request the prosecutor stated that, by a decision issued on 18 April 2008, the criminal investigation opened against O.D.A. had been extended to the applicant on suspicion of drug trafficking. The search was authorized by a judge.
8.  During the search, which took place on the evening of 18 April 2008, 4.12 grams of cannabis and fifty-one LSD tabs were found in the applicant’s room. After the search, at around 10 p.m., the applicant was first taken to hospital for a toxicology test and then to the Tulcea County police station (in the city of Tulcea, 125 km from Constanţa), where a police officer asked him to give a statement.
9.  The applicant handwrote a statement (in English) in which he explained as follows:
“... my brother and I travel frequently ... to Belgium.... While in [Belgium], my brother and I travelled to the Netherlands numerous times to smoke THC ... The first and only time that I brought drugs into Romania was 2 months ago. I bought these drugs from a friend of a friend of mine ... He offered me a deal from someone he knew. I gave my friend the money, 450 euros, and he returned a day later with 200 grams of hashish and 60 LSD which was meant as a gift... After smoking about 40 grams of it, my brother and I wrapped the hashish and LSD in a black plastic bag and put it in a pocket of some trousers and packed it in a suitcase amongst other clothes. ...”
He further stated that since he did not use LSD and had needed money he had decided to sell nine LSD tabs to O.D.A. Lastly, he said that he had never sold any drugs before, that he was not a drug trafficker and that he was sorry for his actions, which he would never repeat. At the upper bottom of the front page the statement was signed and dated 18 April 2008 by a police officer. Besides the applicant’s signature, the statement bore an additional signature which resembled that of the lawyer appointed on his behalf and, at the foot of the page, the date of 19 April 2008.
10.  The applicant was then taken to the headquarters of DIICOT where, at 2.15 p.m. on 19 April 2008, the prosecutor informed him of the accusations against him, namely unlawful possession of, importing and trafficking drugs. At the same time the applicant was informed of his right to an interpreter and a lawyer of his own choosing and to remain silent. Then the accusations were read to him in the presence of a lawyer and an English language interpreter – both appointed on his behalf by the authorities – who also assisted him during his subsequent questioning by the prosecutor. All the above information were included in a minutes drafted on 19 April 2008 at 14:15 p.m. and signed by the prosecutor, the applicant as well as by his appointed lawyer and interpreter. After the applicant’s initial statement given to the police had been translated into Romanian by the interpreter, the prosecutor took a new statement from him. In this statement, which was in Romanian and signed by the applicant, the lawyer, the interpreter and the prosecutor, the applicant reiterated the previous statement given to the police (see paragraph 9 above) but this time stated that he had not known about the LSD in his luggage until he had unpacked at the dormitory. The applicant also said: “I have no complaints against the police authorities or the prosecutor”. After the charges were formally brought against him, at 3.45 p.m. in the presence of the lawyer and the interpreter, the applicant said that he “maintained his previous statements”.
11.  The same day a request by the prosecutor to remand the applicant and O.D.A. in custody was rejected by the Tulcea County Court because the two men did not have a criminal record, were students and had been willingly cooperating with the investigative authorities. Later that evening the applicant was allowed to leave the prosecutor’s office.
12.  On 3 June 2008 the applicant and O.D.A were sent to trial for unlawful possession of, importing and trafficking drugs.
13.  The Tulcea County Court considered the criminal case between September and October 2008.
14.  The applicant, who was assisted by two lawyers of his choice and did not contest the charges brought against him, raised numerous complaints before the court regarding procedural irregularities during the investigation. He stated, among other things, that after the search on the evening of 18 April 2008, he had been detained by the police from 10 p.m. until the next day, when the prosecutor’s request to remand him in custody had been rejected by the court. He argued that his initial statement given to the police during his detention (see paragraph 9 above) should not be taken into consideration because it had been taken in the absence of a lawyer and an interpreter and, as a result, he had not understood his rights.
15.  On 24 October 2008 the Tulcea County Court convicted the applicant of unlawful possession of, importing and trafficking drugs and gave him a three-year suspended sentence. He was fined 1,000 Romanian Lei ((ROL) – approximately 270 euros (EUR)).
16.  Drawing on the evidence gathered during the investigation and at the trial, the court established the facts as follows. In February 2008 the applicant and his brother had travelled to Belgium to visit their father and from there to Amsterdam, in order to smoke THC. On their return, the applicant had hidden in his luggage and brought into Romania 200 grams of hashish and 60 tabs of LSD, drugs that he had obtained from a friend studying in Belgium. The applicant alleged that he had not known at the time about the LSD, which had been a present from his friend, and that he had only discovered it when he had unpacked at the dormitory. The court however held that the applicant could not claim that he had not been aware of the contents of his luggage since in his first statement (see paragraph 9 above) he had declared that he had personally packed the LSD in a black bag in his suitcase. The court further held that O.D.A., who had used to smoke together with the applicant, had responded to a request for drugs from other students because he had needed money. According to his statements, he had bought approximately 40 grams of cannabis from the applicant on several occasions, and twelve LSD tabs that he had sold at a higher price. On 18 April 2008 O.D.A. had been caught trying to sell the twelve LSD tabs.
17.  The court stated that it had based its decision on the following: a technical report on the drugs, toxicology reports, the statements given by the defendants and witness statements. As regards the applicant’s request to disregard his initial statement it stated:
“As regards the defendant [K.C.], not only did he refuse to testify before this court, but he tried – personally and through his lawyers – to exclude from the case the statements he gave before the prosecutor, claiming that he had not been made aware of his rights and that he had not been satisfied with the services of the interpreter.
After verification of these allegations, the court finds that the defendants were informed of the charges and of their right to remain silent and to be represented by a lawyer of their choice.
The defendant K.C. was informed of his rights on 19 April 2008, at [2.15 p.m.], in the presence of his interpreter and lawyer, [and was] questioned afterwards.
As regards the services of the interpreter, the defendant could have complained to the prosecutor if he was not satisfied, which he failed to do.”
18.  The applicant appealed against that judgment, reiterating his previous arguments.
19.  On 3 April 2009 the Constanţa Court of Appeal rejected the applicant’s appeal as ill-founded. In reply to his arguments, it noted that he had been represented by a lawyer and had benefited from the services of an interpreter throughout the entire criminal proceedings, in compliance with the guarantees of Article 6 of the Convention. The court further held that:
“The nature of the case and the people involved, in a special location – a university campus – required urgent investigative measures, therefore it cannot be claimed that the presumption of innocence had been breached or that the defendants had been deprived of their right to defence.”
20.  The applicant filed an appeal on points of law (recurs). He argued, among other things, that he had been held at the police station and at the prosecutor’s office without legal justification for an unreasonable length of time (twenty-two hours); he also stressed that his initial confession had been taken while he had been detained at the police station without an interpreter, in the absence of a lawyer and following threats by the police officer guarding him. He further submitted that the most serious charges against him had been based only on this initial confession and on O.D.A.’s statement – also taken in the absence of a lawyer – as well as on the findings of the search that, in his opinion, had not been carried out in compliance with the legal procedural requirements. The applicant added that his right to be informed promptly in a language which he understood and in detail of the nature and cause of the accusation against him, as provided for by Article 6 § 3 of the Convention, had been breached.
21.  On 21 January 2010 the High Court of Cassation and Justice dismissed the applicant’s appeal on points of law with final effect.
22.  The court undertook a fresh analysis of the evidence in the file and decided that the guarantees of a fair trial within the meaning of Article 6 of the Convention had been respected as regards both defendants since they had been provided with legal assistance and had benefited from adversarial proceedings in which all their arguments had been examined and replied to. In conclusion, the court considered that the proceedings, taken as a whole, had been fair.
23.  As regards the applicant’s specific complaint about his initial statement given to the police, the court held as follows:
“ ... the statements given by the applicant and O.D.A. ... were in compliance with the legal requirements ... for the respective stages of the investigation, they reflected their wishes at the relevant time, both defendants having the capacity to understand the rights presented to them, being students and even in the absence of legal studies, they could have understood the extent of their rights and obligations.”
24.  The court further observed that O.D.A. had specifically waived his right to legal assistance (see paragraph 6 above) while the applicant, who had also been informed of his right to an interpreter, had expressed a wish to be assigned one. It also noted that the file included the prosecutor’s decision appointing an English language interpreter in the case and minutes signed by the applicant and the interpreter attesting that the applicant had been informed of his right to be represented by a lawyer of his choice and of the right to remain silent (see paragraph 10 above). The court concluded that, in any event, the applicant had not at any point been detained and therefore legal assistance had not been mandatory in his situation.
25.  The remaining arguments raised by the applicant were dismissed by the court as not proved.
26.  Throughout the entire trial the applicant was represented by two lawyers of his choice and assisted by a court provided English language interpreter.