Communicated on 4 June 2020
Published on 22 June 2020
FIRST SECTION
Application no. 35815/18
Marcin KORDZIŃSKI
against Poland
lodged on 15 February 2019
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Mr Marcin Kordziński, is a Polish national, who was born in 1975 and is detained in the Międzyrzecze Detention Centre.
The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
The applicant has been serving his cumulative sentence of imprisonment of five years and six months since 26 September 2019.
After his arrest he was placed in the Zielona Góra Detention Centre and, some two weeks later, he was transported to the Czarne Prison. According to the applicant’s submissions, the conditions in the Czarne Prison were “bearable”.
On 20 January 2017 he was transported to the Międzyrzecze Detention Centre. The applicant blames that penitentiary facility for the worsening of his state of health and his present condition.
The applicant suffers from serious disabilities; one of his legs was partly amputated, he can move only in a wheelchair, suffers from epilepsy and has other medical conditions, all being a result of an unspecified accident that happened in 2000.
He has been classified by the social security authorities as a person with a “significant degree of disability” (znaczny stopień niepełnosprawności) in connection with a significantly reduced possibility of independent existence.
The applicant cannot look after himself and requires constant assistance from another person in his daily activities, which the penitentiary system cannot provide. He submits that he cannot dress or undress, make his bed or wash his underwear and he cannot ask anybody to do the washing for him. He further submits that he had been humiliated in front of his fellow inmates because, as a result of his condition he had often wet himself after which he was laughed at not only by other prisoners but also by the detention centre officers.
He also submits that he was refused some painkilling pills. Instead, he was prescribed rectal suppositories which, given his condition, he could not apply himself and which were applied by a nurse in the presence of other inmates and detention centre guards which was a source of additional humiliation for him.
According to the applicant, because of inadequate treatment, he suffered from more frequent epilepsy seizures. He also submits that he has not received the relevant dental treatment, and, as a result, lost most of his teeth. Apparently, after his placement in the Międzyrzecze Detention Centre in January 2017, he was supposed to see a dentist only on 17 May 2018. However, this visit did not take place because there was nobody to carry the applicant with his wheelchair to the upper floors of the building which is not equipped with a lift.
The applicant also submits that for the first two years of his detention he could not be transported to his medical specialist visits because his wheelchair would not fit into a police van. Apparently, it was only later that a specialised medical chair was bought.
The applicant lodged numerous complaints with penitentiary authorities and with penitentiary courts. It appears that the special cell no. 413 which is adapted to the needs of disabled persons and in which the applicant was placed, was inspected by a penitentiary judge.
Between 30 January and 4 April 2019 the applicant was placed in the rehabilitation ward of the Łódź Prison where he underwent rehabilitation and a series of specialist consultations, in particular with an orthopaedist, an ophthalmologist and a neurologist. Subsequently, he was transported back to Międzyrzecze Detention Centre with a recommendation to continue on his own the rehabilitation exercises that he had learnt in Łódź.
On 26 November 2019 the applicant received a reply from the Szczecin Regional Inspector of Prison Service (Okręgowy Inspektorat Służby Więziennej). The reply read, in so far as relevant, as follows:
“The Międzyrzecze Detention Centre is a penitentiary facility adapted to the needs of persons with disabilities. The cell no. 413 in which you are detained is adapted to the needs of persons moving in wheelchairs. In the cell you are detained with persons who were chosen to help you in everyday activities, which – because of your disability – you cannot perform yourself. Cell no. 413 is placed on the ground floor of the building. The floor is equipped with a special ramp (“podjazd”) by which you can freely move in the wheelchair to the prison yard. The way you are placed in the Międzyrzecze Detention Centre is not inappropriate and is adapted to your state of health.... Moreover, the conditions in the cell as well as the remaining infrastructure were controlled by the penitentiary judge of Gorzów Wielkopolski Regional Court. That inspection did not show any irregularities. You were informed of its results on 16 May 2017.”
On 27 January 2020 the applicant was again transported to the Łódź Prison to undergo rehabilitation.
The applicant also requested several times to be granted a break from serving his sentence. His most recent request was lodged in autumn 2019.
On 17 October 2019 the Gorzów Wielkopolski Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) refused the applicant’s request, holding that a break in serving a sentence could be granted only in case of serious disease which was not the applicant’s case. The court admitted that the applicant suffered from numerous and serious disabilities; however, he could be adequately treated in the penitentiary facility. In this respect the court mentioned that that conclusion “emerged directly from an opinion on the applicant’s state of health”. It did not however make any reference that could identify the opinion relied on.
The applicant appealed. He requested, among other things, that the opinion on his state of health prepared by the prison doctor from the Międzyrzecze Detention Centre be completed. He also sought that his earlier request for the appointment of medical experts who would assess his condition be examined.
On 3 December 2019 the Szczecin Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) upheld the challenged decision. The court relied on an opinion of 4 September 2019, according to which the applicant could be treated in prison. The court also found that the applicant had received adequate medical care in prison and that his health was not in danger. It further noted that the applicant had been examined twice by the Forensic Medicine Department (Zakład Medycyny Sądowej) at the University of Poznań and had been consulted by a number of specialists including an orthopaedist, a neurologist, an urologist, a psychiatrist and an ophthalmologist. The court did not find it necessary to obtain further medical opinions.
The applicant also requested conditional release from prison. It appears that a hearing on his request took place before the Gorzów Wielkopolski Regional Court on 11 December 2019 and that it was refused. The applicant appealed. On 16 January 2020 he was informed that the appellate hearing would be held before the Szczecin Court of Appeal on 5 February 2020.
COMPLAINTS
The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention that he is detained in a cell ill-adapted to his needs and that he is left to get help from inmates. He also complains about the quality of medical care he receives in the Międzyrzecze Detention Centre and about the overall conditions of his detention which, in his view, are not compatible with his state of health and contribute to the deterioration of his condition.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Has the applicant’s detention in the Międzyrzecze Detention Centre amounted to inhuman or degrading treatment in breach of Article 3 of the Convention, taking into account, in particular, the following elements:
- the nature and the course of the applicant’s medical condition; reference is made to the applicant’s submissions according to which his state of health has deteriorated since he was imprisoned;
- the fact that the applicant has to rely on the assistance of his inmates in his daily activities (see Kaprykowski v. Poland, no. 23052/05, 3 February 2009, § 75);
- the quality of the medical care provided within the penitentiary system;
- the overall conditions of the applicant’s detention.
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