PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 62323/00) against the Republic of Poland lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Polish national, Mr Zygmunt Najdecki (“the applicant”), on 21 April 1999.

The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Wołąsiewicz of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On 18 October 2005 the Court declared the application partly inadmissible and decided to communicate to the Government the complaints concerning the length of the applicant’s detention on remand and censorship of his correspondence with his lawyer. Under the provisions of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, it decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1950 and lives in Miłkowice, Poland.

1. The applicant’s detention on remand

On 26 May 1998 the applicant was arrested on suspicion of having committed fraud and forgery while being a member of an organised criminal group.

On 27 May 1998 the Legnica District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) detained the applicant and two other co-suspects on remand. The Legnica Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) upheld that decision on 18 June 1998. The courts considered that the applicant’s detention was justified by the existence of strong evidence against him and the gravity of the charges. They also relied on the risk that the applicant might attempt to tamper with evidence.

On 19 August 1998 the Legnica Regional Court ordered that the applicant be kept in custody until 26 November 1998. The court repeated the reasons previously given for the applicant’s detention and noted that the applicant had attempted to influence his co-suspects to change their statements.

The applicant’s detention was prolonged several times by the Legnica Regional Court for the same reasons as before. The applicant’s appeals against those decisions were dismissed.

On 2 June 1999 the applicant and 12 other persons were indicted on several counts of fraud and forgery, and participation in an organised criminal gang.

The applicant remained in detention.

The first hearing before the Legnica Regional Court was scheduled for 14 September 1999. Subsequently, the court held 34 hearings.

On 12 April 2000 the Regional Court decided to ask the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy) to prolong the applicant’s detention.

The applicant’s detention was subsequently prolonged numerous times by the Legnica Regional Court and the Wrocław Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) for the same reasons as before. The applicant’s appeals against those decisions were dismissed.

On 8 July 1999 and 7 November 2001 the applicant lodged unsuccessful applications for release with the Legnica Regional Court.

On 15 February 2002 the Legnica Regional Court asked the Wrocław Court of Appeal to prolong further the applicant’s detention until 30 April 2002.

On 21 February 2002 the Court of Appeal refused the application. The court noted that the applicant had already been detained for 3 years and 8 months. The court further found that the interests of the trial did not justify keeping him in detention any longer, especially since a large part of the evidence had already been examined and the witnesses heard.

On 27 February 2002 the Legnica Regional Court released the applicant.

The Legnica Regional Court on 16 December 2002 convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to 7 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.

On 20 November 2003 the Wrocław Court of Appeal upheld the first-instance judgment.

2. Censorship of the applicant’s correspondence

On 9 August 2001 the applicant sent a letter to the Court, submitting that his correspondence with his defence counsel had been censored. He enclosed a fragment of the envelope of the letter his lawyer had sent him at the detention centre. The envelope bears an official stamp of the legal office: “Kancelaria Adwokacka, adw. Zenon Duda” (Legal Office, Zenon Duda, Barrister). It also bears the stamp “Ocenzurowano, Legnica, dn. 06.08.2001” (Censored, Legnica on 06.08.2001) and an illegible signature.