Antena 3 CNN Romania Romania, sentenced by the ECHR to pay damages amounting to 300,000 euros for dozens of members or supporters of MISA

Romania, sentenced by the ECHR to pay damages amounting to 300,000 euros for dozens of members or supporters of MISA

Romania, sentenced by the ECHR to pay damages amounting to 300,000 euros for dozens of members or supporters of MISA
27 Apr 2016   •   10:34

Romania was ordered by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to pay to  23 members and supporters of the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA) the sum of 12,000 euro each and to  other three supporters amounts ranging from  6,000 euros to 4,500 euro in two cases for abuses they were subjected during a police operation deployed  March 18, 2014, informs a press release of the institution.

According to the release, the case concerns  the complaints filed by 26 people decrying abuses during a police operation in which 16 apartments were searched.

The operation deployed on 18 March 2014 concerned individuals  suspected by the  Prosecution office attached to the Court of Appeal of  fraudulent use of various computer programs to produce and disseminate pornographic images on the Internet and that they  sent members of the association abroad for  prostitution.

The operation was performed  by around 130 members of anti-terrorist and military units, according to the complainants, they intervened in force  by breaking doors and windows, while most of the MISA supporters  were asleep.

Moreover, the supporters also complaint  that the heavily armed special forces  broke into their homes and forced them to sit down until the coming of prosecutors, who then refused to show a warrant or to inform them about the reasons for the operation.
 

During the assault, the supporters mobile phones were confiscated along other personal items while being 'insulted, humiliated, deprived of food and water, "reads the press release on the ECHR website. Also, they were allowed to go to the toilet only accompanied by a member of the security forces and were forced to leave the door open. They also charged that the operation was filmed and then pictures with the operation were released.


That same afternoon, the MISA supporters were taken to the prosecution for questioning, and there they were  threatened and insulted in order for them  to give statements in part dictated by prosecutors related to their intimate life and involvement with  the leader of MISA, Gregorian Bivolaru.


 

 


 

The applicants have  also complained that they were not informed of the reasons for their detention and that they were denied access to a lawyer. They were released after several hours of detention without being subsequently charged.

The communiqué also notes that the Romanian government denies their version of the events, noting that no physical violence was used during searches or interrogations by  the prosecution.

The applicants subsequently submitted upon various dates, complaints decrying the abuse that they had been submitted on the day of the operation, the behavior of prosecutors and of members of the armed forces and that they were detained. However, the competent courts in Romania have decided not to prosecute anyone in the case.

In their legal approach before the ECHR, the applicants claim under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights that they were subjected to mistreatment during the operation on 18 March 2014 and decry the lack of an effective investigation. Also, under Article 5 1 concerning the right to liberty and security, they said that they were arbitrarily detained during the search, during the transfer to the prosecution and during the interrogations.

Last but not least, under Article 8 on the right to privacy and family life, the applicants complained of the house and bodily searches to which they were subjected about the confiscation of their personal items  and of the media broadcasting of videos shot during the police operation.

ECHR ruled that Article 3 on degrading treatment and lack of effective investigation had been violated in the case of 23 people, which applies to Article 5 1 concerning the right to liberty and security. At the same time, the court ruled that Article 8 on the right to respect for private and family life had been violated in the case of all 26 applicants.
 

×
TOP articole pe Antena 3 CNN:
Parteneri