PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 10847/02) 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 Jan Miernicki (“the applicant”), on 12 June 2001.

The applicant was represented by Ms A. Kawecka-Guzek, a lawyer practising in Zielona Góra. The Polish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Wołąsiewicz of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On 8 October 2007 the President of the Fourth Section decided to give notice of the application to the Government. It was also decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility (Article 29 § 3).

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1951 and lives in Zgorzelec. He is currently detained in Wołów Prison.

A. Criminal proceedings against the applicant and his detention on remand

On 23 August 2000 the applicant was arrested by the police on suspicion of having committed, inter alia, several offences of drug trafficking and leading an organised armed criminal gang. On 25 August 2000 the Wrocław District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) ordered his detention pending trial. It relied on a reasonable suspicion that the applicant had committed the offences with which he had been charged and the likelihood of a severe sentence of imprisonment being imposed on him. Further, the court stressed that the applicant could tamper with evidence, in particular given that he had been charged with being the leader of an organised armed criminal gang.

On 17 November 2000 and 28 March 2001 the Jelenia Góra Regional Court extended the applicant's detention.

On 10 May 2001 the Wrocław Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant's appeal against the decision of 28 March 2001. The court noted that the reasons for his detention were still valid. Moreover, it referred to the strong risk that the applicant could jeopardise the proper course of the investigation. The court held that according to the testimonies of the key prosecution witness (świadek koronny), even during his detention the applicant had tried to threaten witnesses in the case.

On 26 July 2001 the Jelenia Gora Regional Court extended the applicant's detention. On 16 August 2001 the Wrocław Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) extended the applicant's detention to 30 September 2001. A subsequent extension was ordered by the Wrocław Court of Appeal on 25 September 2001. The decision was served on the applicant on 2 October 2001. In his appeal, the applicant alleged that he had been illegally deprived of his liberty for two days, due to the fact that the decision in question had been served on him after the expiry of the previous detention order given on 16 August 2001.

On 17 October 2001 the Wrocław Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant's appeal. The court explained that the first-instance decision had indeed been served on him on 2 October 2001, in compliance with the law. It underlined the fact that the order had been given before the expiration of the previous one.

In their decisions concerning the extension of the applicant's detention, the courts relied on the likelihood that he had committed the offences as the leader of an organised armed criminal gang. They attached importance to the grave nature of these offences and the likelihood of a severe sentence of imprisonment being imposed on him. Furthermore, they referred to the complexity of the case, the fact that many suspects were involved and that some of them had not yet been arrested. They stressed that the detention was justified by the need to obtain further evidence, in particular, to have witnesses examined by the German authorities by means of a rogatory letter, to obtain expert reports and to hear a key prosecution witness.

The applicant's appeal against the detention order, likewise his further appeals against decisions to extend his detention and all his subsequent, numerous applications for release and appeals against refusals to release him, were unsuccessful. The courts held that the reasons for his detention were still valid.

On 15 November 2001 the applicant and 14 co-defendants were indicted before the Jelenia Góra Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy). The bill of indictment against the applicant comprised several charges of drug trafficking, leadership of an armed organised criminal gang, incitement to produce a radio bomb and circulating forged banknotes.

The detention was then subsequently extended by the Jelenia Góra Regional Court on 27 November 2001 and 28 May 2002 and later by the Wrocław Court of Appeal on 8 August 2002. The courts repeated the grounds given in the previous decisions.

On 16 September 2002 the Wrocław Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by the applicant against the extension of his detention ordered on 8 August 2002. One of the judges (W.K.) dismissing the appeal had also presided over the court's session on 8 August 2002.

On 15 January 2003 the Wrocław Court of Appeal extended the applicant's detention. The court relied on the grounds given in the previous decisions.

During the trial, on 12 July 2002, the Jelenia Góra Court adjourned the first-instance hearing. It was resumed after forty-nine days, that is, on 30 August 2002. The applicant unsuccessfully objected to the continuation of the hearing. Under the relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, he requested that the first-instance hearing be recommenced from the beginning. The court rejected the applicant's objection, despite the fact that it admitted that the continuation of the hearing had been in breach of certain provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

In the course of the investigation and the trial, the courts informed the prosecutor and the applicant's lawyer about the dates of the sessions concerning the extension and the review of the applicant's detention. Nevertheless, the applicant's lawyer failed to attend some of the sessions.

Between 1 March 2002 and 28 February 2003 the court held fifteen hearings.

On 7 March 2003 the Jelenia Góra Regional Court convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to eight years' imprisonment. He appealed, alleging, inter alia, that the first-instance judgment should be quashed due to errors of fact, evidence and procedure, in particular the erroneous continuation of the first-instance hearing in August 2002.

After the delivery of the first-instance judgment, the applicant's detention was extended on several occasions.

On 30 October 2003 the Wrocław Court of Appeal upheld the first‑instance judgment.

On an unknown date in February 2004 the applicant's lawyer lodged a cassation appeal. However, he did not raise an issue in relation to the adjournment of the first-instance hearing in July 2002 and its subsequent continuation on a later date.

On 10 February 2005 the Supreme Court dismissed the cassation appeal.

The applicant is serving a prison sentence.

B. Censorship of the applicant's correspondence

Five envelopes in which the applicant sent his letters to the Court in 2002 bear red stamps reading “censored” (cenzurowano), with no signatures. It appears that the envelopes had been cut open and subsequently resealed with adhesive tape. According to the postage stamps the letters were posted on 19 and 23 April, 21 August, 30 October and 28 November 2002.