E.K. v. Greece

Court rulings

Type of violation

Summary of case: The applicant, a Turkish national, encountered border agents at Tychero, a town near the Greek and Turkish border. As a result of his unauthorised entry into Greece, authorities ordered a two-year suspended sentence of imprisonment but re-arrested him the same day with the aim of expulsion. The applicant experienced detention at four locations, in chronological order: Soufli Border Guard Department, Feres Border Guard Department, Attika (Petrou Ralli) Pre-Removal Detention Centre and Amygdaleza Pre-Removal Detention Centre. The ECtHR rejected the applicant’s Article 3 claim regarding the harsh conditions of the detention sites, arguing that these facilities did not exceed the standard required by Article 3. The ECtHR also denied the applicant’s Article 5(1)(f) complaint about the arbitrary nature of his detention as an asylum seeker, pointing to domestic law that states an ongoing asylum application may not necessarily interfere with a detention order even if it temporarily prevents deportation. However, the administrative court failed to respond to the applicant’s allegations about the state of his detention. The ECtHR declared there was a violation of Article 5(4) due to the lack of effective judicial review of the applicant’s detention.

Related detention centre

Link to external source: https://www.asylumlawdatabase.eu/en/content/ek-v-greece-ecthr-judgment-finds-violation-article-54-and-no-violation-article-3-or-article

Supporting files