Communicated on 12 June 2018
SECOND SECTION
Application no. 14800/18
Edmond BALKASI and Others
against Albania
lodged on 21 March 2018
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The applicants are Albanian nationals of Roma ethnic origin.
On 13 December 2013, at around 7 a.m., the applicants and their family members were at their home when four masked individuals with machine guns and batons arrived and surrounded the house. When one of the applicants, B.A, and his wife N.A, asked those persons to identify themselves, they pulled her away and beat him up. The other applicants intervened, a tumultuous scene developed, and they subsequently found out that the masked persons were police officers refusing to identify themselves. The next day, the applicants went to the police station but the police officers advised them not to bring criminal charges against their colleagues on the ground that their actions were according to their professional duties and they were searching for a missing person named A.K of Roma origin. Instead, criminal proceedings were conducted against the applicants on charges of obstructing justice. On 30 July 2014 the Fier District Court found them guilty. That decision was upheld by the Vlora Court of Appeal on 30 April 2015. The applicants lodged a complaint with the Supreme Court and a constitutional appeal with the Constitutional Court, but to no avail.
The applicant B.A. complains under Article 3 of the Convention that on 13 December 2013 he was subjected to ill-treatment by police officers and that the authorities failed to carry out an effective investigation.
The applicants also complain under Article 14 of the Convention that the absence of an effective investigation into the police abuse was stemmed from the relevant authorities’ discriminatory attitudes towards their Roma ethnicity.
Lastly, the applicants complain under Article 8 of the Convention of a violation of their right to respect for their home.
QUESTIONS tO THE PARTIES
1. Has the applicant B.A been subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention, as a result of the police operation at his home on 13 December 2013? Having regard to the procedural protection from inhuman or degrading treatment (see Labita v. Italy [GC], no. 26772/95, § 131, ECHR 2000-IV), was the investigation in the present case by the domestic authorities in breach of Article 3 of the Convention? Did the competent authorities act with the required diligence and promptness (see Menesheva v. Russia, no. 59261/00, § 67, ECHR 2006; M. and Others v. Italy and Bulgaria, no. 40020/03, § 100, 31 July 2012; and Zalevskiy v. Ukraine, no. 3466/09, § 51, 16 October 2014) in securing the evidence concerning the applicant’s case?
2. Have the applicants suffered discrimination in the enjoyment of their Convention rights on the ground of their Roma origin contrary to Article 14 of the Convention read in conjunction with Article 3?
3. Has there been a violation of the applicants’ right to respect for their home, contrary to Article 8 of the Convention, in so far as the police officers entered without a search order? If so, was this interference necessary in terms of Article 8 § 2 of the Convention?
The Government are invited to submit copies of all the relevant documents concerning the applicants’ case.
APPENDIX
No.
First name LASTNAME
Birth year
Nationality
Place of residence
Representative
Edmond BALKASI
1975
Albanian
Tirana
A. Metalla
Besnik ALUSHI
1970
Albanian
Tirana
A. Metalla
Nikollaq ALUSHI
1993
Albanian
Tirana
A. Metalla
Nuri ALUSHI
1950
Albanian
Tirana
A. Metalla
Panajot ALUSHI
1990
Albanian
Tirana
A. Metalla
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy