77. The applicant also submitted various news from the media published on the territory controlled by the “MRT” regarding the judiciary in the region. Some of these items refer to politically motivated persecution using the “courts” as a means of exerting pressure, or allege that the “MRT Supreme Court” is a “puppet court” of the “MRT President”. Others mention the appointment of new judges to the “MRT courts”, referring to the freshly appointed “judges” as having barely any experience, and citing examples such as that of a person who became a judge of the “Tiraspol City Court” at the age of 25, three years after graduating from the local university. THE LAW 78. The applicant complained, inter alia, that he had been arrested and detained unlawfully by the “MRT” authorities. He further alleged that he had not been given the requisite medical assistance for his condition, had been held in inhuman conditions of detention and had been prevented from seeing his parents and his pastor. He submitted that both Moldova and Russia had jurisdiction and were responsible for the alleged violations. I. GENERAL ADMISSIBILITY ISSUES 79. The Russian Government argued that the applicant did not come within their jurisdiction and that, consequently, the application should be declared inadmissible ratione personae and ratione loci in respect of the Russian Federation. For their part, the Moldovan Government did not contest that the Republic of Moldova retained jurisdiction over the territory controlled by the “MRT”, but submitted that the applicant had failed to exhaust the remedies available to him in Moldova. The Court finds it appropriate, before examining the admissibility and merits of each complaint lodged by the applicant, to examine these two objections potentially affecting all of the complaints. A. Jurisdiction 80. The Court must first determine whether, for the purposes of the matters complained of, the applicant falls within the jurisdiction of either or both of the respondent States, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention.
180. The Court will now turn to the conditions of the applicant’s detention. According to him, the cell was very hot, humid and poorly ventilated and lacked access to natural light. It was overcrowded and full of cigarette smoke as well as parasitic insects. He lacked access to a toilet for hours on end and was unable to dry clothes outside the cell. The food was inedible and there were no hygiene products. Throughout his detention he did not receive the medical assistance required by his condition (see paragraphs 28 to 41 above). 181. While the respondent Governments have not commented on the description provided by the applicant (see paragraphs 28 to 38 above), it is largely confirmed by the reports of the CPT and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on visits to various places of detention in the “MRT” (see paragraphs 61-64 above). The Court notes in particular that the latter’s visit took place in July 2008, some four months before the applicant was taken into detention. 182. On the basis of the material before it, the Court finds it established that the conditions of the applicant’s detention amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment within the meaning of Article 3, in particular on account of severe overcrowding, lack of access to daylight and lack of working ventilation which, coupled with cigarette smoke and dampness in the cell, aggravated the applicant’s asthma attacks. 3. Responsibility of the respondent States 183. The Court considers that there is no material difference in the nature of each respondent State’s responsibility under the Convention in respect of the various complaints made in the present case. Accordingly, for the same reasons given in respect of the complaint under Article 5 § 1 of the Convention (see paragraphs 151-155 above), the Court finds that there has been no violation of Article 3 of the Convention by the Republic of Moldova. 184. For the same reasons as above (see paragraphs 156-159), the Court finds that there has been a violation of Article 3 of the Convention by the Russian Federation. VI. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLES 8 AND 9 OF THE CONVENTION 185. The applicant further complained that for no apparent reason he had been unable to meet his parents for a considerable length of time, and that during the meetings that had eventually been authorised they had not been allowed to speak their own language. He had also been prevented from seeing his pastor. He relied on Articles 8 and 9 of the Convention, which read as follows: