ECtHR decision in Chkhartishvili v. Greece (no. 22910/10) [Article 3 ECHR]

The applicant is a Georgian national. She entered Greece in 2005 with a three-month residence permit which she overstayed. In 2009 she was arrested and placed in detention with a view to her expulsion. The authorities decided on her expulsion and ordered her detention pending execution for a maximum of six months.  While in detention, she submitted an asylum application. She repeatedly challenged her detention, complaining at the same time about her detention conditions. Her asylum application was rejected and all appeals against her detention were dismissed, without consideration of the allegations concerning her detention conditions. Upon the expiration of the six months, a court ordered her release and gave her ten days to leave Greece. Before the Court, Ms. Chkhartishvili alleged a violation of Article 3 owing to the conditions of her detention. The Court considered that the applicant had not had the possibility to do any physical, outdoor activity, and that the allocation of 5.87 euro per day was insufficient to guarantee adequate nourishment to long-term detainees like the applicant. The Court concluded that these deficiencies derived from the fact that the detention facility where the applicant had been remanded was not prepared for long-term detention, and found that keeping the applicant for six months under such conditions had amounted to degrading treatment.

Read the full text of the judgment on the Court's website.

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