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EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   13.06.2008   Press release issued by the Registrar   FORTHCOMING CHAMBER JUDGMENT   30 June 2008   The European Court of Human Rights will be holding a public hearing in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on Monday 30 June 2008 at 11.30 a.m. (local time) to deliver its Chamber judgment in the case of Gäfgen v. Germany (application no. 22978/05).   The press release (in English, French and German) and the text of the judgment (in English and French) will be available after the hearing on the Court’s Internet site (http://www.echr.coe.int).     Gäfgen v. Germany (application no. 22978/05)   The applicant, Magnus Gäfgen, is a German national who was born in 1975. He is currently in prison in Schwalmstadt (Germany).   Summary of the facts   The case concerns Mr Gäfgen’s complaint, in particular, that he was threatened with ill-treatment by the police in order to make him confess to the whereabouts of J., the youngest son of a well-known banking family in Frankfurt am Main.   In July 2003 Mr Gäfgen was sentenced to life imprisonment for the abduction and murder of J..   The child, aged 11, had got to know the applicant, who at the time was a law student, through his sister. On 27 September 2002 the applicant lured J. into his flat by pretending that J.’s sister had left a jacket there. He then suffocated the child.   Subsequently, the applicant deposited a ransom demand at J.’s parents’ home, requiring them to pay one million euros to see their child again. He abandoned J.’s corpse under a bridge one hour’s drive away from Frankfurt.   On 30 September 2002 at around 1 a.m. Mr Gäfgen collected the ransom at a tram station. He was placed under police surveillance and was arrested by the security forces several hours later.   On 1 October 2002 one of the police officers responsible for questioning the applicant warned him that he would face considerable suffering if he persisted in refusing to disclose the child’s whereabouts. According to the applicant, the officer threatened, among other things, to lock him in a cell with people who would sexually abuse him. Further to these threats, the applicant confessed and disclosed where he had hidden the victim’s body. On 28 July 2003 the applicant was found guilty of abduction and murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He lodged an appeal on points of law which was dismissed by the Federal Court of Justice on 21 May 2004. He subsequently lodged a complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court, which on 14 December 2004 refused to examine it.   Complaints   The applicant complains that he was subjected to torture when questioned by the police. He further submits that his right to a fair trial was violated notably by the use at his trial of evidence obtained through his extorted confession. He relies on Articles 3 (prohibition of torture) and 6 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights.   *** Press contacts Tracey Turner-Tretz (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 88 41 35 30) Paramy Chanthalangsy (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 54 91) Sania Ivedi (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 59 45)   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.