5.  The applicant was born in 1981 and lives in Piteşti.
6.  On 4 September 2014 a gynaecologist prescribed the medicine Utrogestan to the applicant, to be taken twice a day for three months.
7.  According to the applicant’s own statement before the Court, the medication was prescribed to help maintain her pregnancy and prevent a miscarriage.
8.  According to the medicine’s patient information leaflet, it was recommended for the treatment of medical conditions causing an insufficient secretion of the hormone progesterone and could be used for several conditions, including inter alia, aiding a pregnancy. Its potential side effects included drowsiness and dizziness, usually as a result of an overdose. Stopping the treatment did not have any potential effects.
9.  On 29 October 2014 M.N., a prosecutor attached to the National Anticorruption Department (Direcția Națională Anticorupție – hereinafter “the DNA”), summoned the applicant to be interviewed as a witness on 31 October 2014 in criminal proceedings opened by the authorities into alleged acts of corruption involving her father and others. Her father was the mayor of Pitești and a member of a major political party which formed the Romanian Government at the time.
10.  According to the applicant’s own statement before the Court, on the morning of 31 October 2014 she started feeling unwell and asked her chosen legal representative to inform M.N. that she might not be able to testify that day because of her health. Her lawyer called M.N. and informed him of the situation. The lawyer also reassured the prosecutor that he would accompany the applicant to the DNA’s offices for the interview once her medical condition improved. Subsequently, the applicant’s lawyer informed her that the prosecutor had refused to allow a lawyer to be present during her interview and he advised her to attend alone.
11.  On the same date a general practitioner issued a medical note and referred the applicant urgently to hospital. The note stated that she was suffering from an inflammation of her uterus.
12.  On the same date the gynaecology department of the Panait Sârbu Clinical Hospital in Bucharest took an ultrasound of the applicant’s uterus. The ultrasound image produced by the applicant as evidence before the Court did not provide, contain or was accompanied by any explanation or medical report detailing her condition.
13.  According to the applicant’s own statement before the Court, the examination at the Panait Sârbu Clinical Hospital confirmed that she was pregnant and was experiencing some complications as a result of stress and her medication’s side effects. However, the scan could not confirm whether the foetus had stopped developing or not. She was advised to continue the prescribed treatment and rest.
14.  On the same date M.N. authorised two police officers to enforce a warrant to appear (mandat de aducere) issued in the applicant’s name. It stated that she had unjustifiably ignored the summons of 29 October 2014 and that her presence was required at the DNA’s offices in order to be interviewed as a witness.
15.  According to the applicant’s own statement before the Court, on her return from the hospital two police officers presented her with the warrant to appear and took her to the DNA’s offices even though she had informed them of her medical condition and had shown them her medical documents. During the interview she informed M.N. that she was feeling ill and presented him with the medical documents. Even though he was aware that she was pregnant, the prosecutor continued to interview her aggressively, using interview techniques aimed at intimidating her. Her interview was also recorded but in the absence of any procedural rules on the matter she was unable to ask for the recording. When she asked the prosecutor to mention in her statement that she was being interviewed while under treatment, in poor health and after a trip to the hospital, she was told that she would not be allowed to leave the premises for the rest of the evening. She became scared, gave in and fully complied with the investigating authorities’ demands.
16.  On 31 October 2014, after the applicant’s interview, prosecutor M.N. prepared a report which stated that according to the statement made by her, she had been late for the interview because she had been feeling unwell on account of health problems (având probleme de sănătate). The report noted that the applicant had supported her statement by submitting a general practitioner’s referral to hospital (see paragraph 11 above) and the results of the ultrasound taken by the Panait Sârbu Clinical Hospital (see paragraph 12 above). The applicant signed the report without objection.
17.  According to the applicant’s own statement before the Court, she also gave the prosecuting authorities a prescription for her medication and the medication’s patient information leaflet.
18.  On 19 January 2015 the applicant underwent a routine pregnancy check-up at a private clinic in Bucharest. According to the medical report prepared that day, she was thirteen weeks pregnant.
19.  At 4 a.m. on 6 November 2014 M.N. authorised the police to enforce a warrant to appear (mandat de aducere) issued in the applicant’s name in order to interview her in the criminal proceedings opened by the authorities into alleged acts of corruption.
20.  At 11.30 a.m. two police officers went to the applicant’s home and presented her with the warrant to appear. According to a report produced by the officers, the applicant did not object to the warrant and followed them to the DNA’s offices. The applicant signed the report.
21.  According to the applicant’s own statement before the Court, several police officers came to her home and took her to the DNA’s offices. On her arrival, even though M.N. was aware of her pregnancy, he left her waiting for eight hours in the corridor. During that time she was forced to stand and had no access to food or water. She started feeling very unwell because of her treatment and its side effects. After eight hours a statement was taken from her in the presence of her chosen legal representatives.
22.  From 12.50 to 1.10 p.m. M.N. informed the applicant in the presence of her two chosen legal representatives that she was suspected of complicity in bribe taking and money laundering in criminal proceedings opened by the authorities into alleged acts of corruption. From 1.15 to 2.45 p.m. she was interviewed as a suspect in their presence. Her statement was recorded.
23.  At 6 p.m. M.N. charged (a pus ȋn mişcare acțiunea penală) the applicant with complicity in bribe taking and money laundering. Between 6.05 and 6.10 p.m. he informed her of the charges against her in the presence of her two chosen legal representatives. From 6.15 to 6.20 p.m. she was interviewed in their presence about the circumstances of the case as a person charged with an offence. Her statement was recorded.
24.  The applicant and her chosen legal representatives signed, without raising any written objections, all the documents produced by the DNA in respect of her case on 6 November 2014, including her statements.
25.  At 7.07 p.m. on 6 November 2014 M.N. decided to place the applicant in police custody for twenty-four hours and ordered that she be taken to the Bucharest Police Detention Centre (Centrul de Reținere şi Arestare Preventivă din cadrul Direcției Generale de Poliție a Municipiului Bucureşti).
26.  At 7.12 p.m. M.N. informed the applicant of her impending detention in the presence of one of her chosen legal representatives.
27.  According to the applicant’s own statement before the Court, she arrived at the detention centre at around 7.30 p.m. with only a bottle of water and a small box of vitamins and minerals. The detention centre authorities took the vitamins from her immediately.
28.  On the same date the applicant signed a statement for the detention centre medical service. According to the statement, she informed them that she had been monitored for endometrial hyperplasia, that she agreed with the information recorded by the medical staff and that the information in respect of her health was complete and accurate.
29.  At 7.55 p.m. the medical service produced a report concerning the applicant’s health. The report noted, inter alia, that according to the statement made by her, she had been suffering from endometrial hyperplasia. Furthermore, she did not have her own Utrogestan. In addition, she stated that she would bring her medical documents in case she was detained pending trial and that she was a non-smoker.
30.  According to the applicant’s own statement before the Court, she informed the detention centre medical service of her pregnancy and treatment and asked them to give her the medication and vitamins that evening and the following morning as recommended. However, during her detention she was not provided with the treatment needed for her pregnancy and therefore she could have suffered a miscarriage. Furthermore, according to her, the detention centre authorities did not provide her with any food or water until the next morning. The food she received was unsavoury, and she was warned by her cellmates not to eat it. Moreover, she was detained in a cell measuring 5 square metres with three smokers, even though she had informed the authorities that she was a non-smoker and that smoke was harmful to someone in her condition. The cell had four bunk beds and was cold. She was forced to sleep in a bed that had a mattress but no bed linen or duvet. The cell had a sink and a squat toilet. The toilet was separated from the rest of the cell by a curtain and was covered with a plastic device to prevent rats from entering the cell. A shower was fitted above the toilet which was also used for flushing it. No warm water was available and the cold water from the sink was contaminated and could not be used for drinking. Furthermore, she was allowed only thirty minutes of outdoor exercise at the same time as her other three cellmates, in a yard measuring 6 or 7 square metres. It had walls three metres high and was covered by a metal grill. The other three cellmates smoked constantly in the yard, so it was filled with cigarette smoke because fresh air could not enter as a result of the very high walls.
31.  At around 7.07 p.m. on 7 November 2014 the Bucharest County Court dismissed the DNA’s request to detain the applicant pending trial for thirty days and ordered her release, on condition that she did not leave the country. In examining her personal situation, the court noted, inter alia, that she was a former national television presenter and a film producer.
32.  On 25 February 2015 a gynaecologist prescribed the applicant Utrogestan, to be taken twice a day until the thirty-second week of pregnancy.
33.  On 17 December 2015 the DNA informed the Government, inter alia, that on 6 November 2014 similar procedural measures to those taken in respect of the applicant had been taken around the same time against eleven other suspects who were being investigated in the same set of criminal proceedings. Moreover, during the proceedings the applicant had been assisted by her chosen legal representatives and, like all the other suspects, she had been offered water or had been able to purchase food and water. Furthermore, water dispensers and disposable cups had been available in every corridor and office of the building. Everyone inside the building, including those under investigation, had access to its canteen. Lastly, all the defendants and their chosen legal representatives had the option of sitting down during the proceedings.
34.  On 28 January 2016 the detention centre coordination department informed the Government that the applicant had arrived at 8.20 p.m. on 6 November 2014. According to the rules in force at the time, detainees were served dinner from 5.30 to 6 p.m. There were no written rules setting out the procedure which needed to be followed for detainees arriving later than 6 p.m. and the applicant had not asked for a meal. In addition, detention centres did not have a clear procedure in respect of detainees statements on whether they were a smoker or non-smoker. As long as detainees were asked about that at the time of their incarceration and opted for smoker or non-smoker status, they would be detained as far as possible according to their preferences.
35.  According to the detention centre coordination department, none of the available documents proved that the applicant had stated that she was a non‑smoker at the time of her incarceration. Consequently, she had been assigned randomly to a cell for smokers. In addition, she had had access to running cold water which could have been used for drinking, and her cell had been heated at all times.
36.  The applicant submitted excerpts from several newspaper and online articles concerning her detention and the time she spent at the DNA’s offices on 6 November 2014. According to three of these she was interviewed at the DNA’s offices for eight or more hours.