Beltsios v. Greece – European Court condemns Greece for violation of Articles 5 and 6 ECHR

In Beltsios v. Greece, the ECtHR condemned Greece for violation of Articles 6(2) and 5(4) of the ECHR as it held that: a) the references to the applicant’s person in a conviction handed down in the context of other criminal proceedings (in which he was not standing trial) violated the presumption of innocence; and b) the national authorities failed to rule “promptly” on the lawfulness of his detention. 

The ECtHR, ruling on the merits of the case, found that: 

1. the contested statements and references to the applicant in the context of Decision No 4554/2013 had infringed the presumption of innocence. Notwithstanding the fact that the court in the context of those proceedings was not in fact in a position to determine the applicant’s guilt, it reached findings and opinions about his involvement in criminal acts in a manner that did not describe a situation of suspicion but could establish his guilt. In general, the wording used amounted to a clear statement, in the absence of a final judgment, that the applicant had committed the criminal offences in question.
2. there had been a breach of Article 5(4) ECHR, due to the failure of the national authorities to rule “promptly” on the lawfulness of the applicant’s detention. This is because a period of approximately four months elapsed between the lodging of the appeal against the decision ordering his provisional detention and the publication of the decision in question (see more in paragraphs 22-25 of the judgment).