The applicant was arrested in November 1995 because suspected of attempting to undermine the constitutional order and transferred to a prison where he was detained pending criminal proceedings. The 2002 judgement that he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment was quashed on appeal in 2003 but he was not released on bail before May 2006. The retrial is still pending.

The Court held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 5 § 3 (right to liberty and security) on account of the excessive length, nine years and almost eight months, of the applicant’s detention on remand and a violation of Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial within a reasonable time) on account of the excessive length, 13 years and still pending, of the criminal proceedings against him.