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issued by the Registrar of the Court   ECHR 210 (2011)   25.10.2011.   A Greek prisoner subjected to inhuman and degrading   conditions of detention   In today’s Chamber judgment in the case of Ibram v. Greece (application   no. 39606/09), which is not final1, the European Court of Human Rights held,   unanimously, that there had been:   A violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the   European Convention on Human Rights   The case concerned a Greek national who complained of the conditions of detention in   the facilities of the Thessaloniki police headquarters   Principal facts   The applicant, Argyrios Ibram, is a Greek national who was born in 1972 and lives in   Choristi Drama (Greece). Having been prosecuted for possession of narcotics and   causing grievous bodily harm in 2003, he was arrested by the police in 2009, placed in   pre-trial detention and transferred to the Thessaloniki police headquarters.   According to Mr Ibram, the conditions of detention in those facilities were appalling. In   particular, the detention area did not have sufficient fresh air or sunlight. The air was   dank and there was an obnoxious small. As there was no inner courtyard, there was no   space for walks and so he could not leave his cell. The toilets and showers were   unhygienic. The prison service did not provide catering for inmates and they each had   only 5.87 euros per day to order meals, which were delivered to them from outside – a   sum that was insufficient to cover their daily food needs. However, Mr Ibram confirmed   that, shortly after his arrival, from April 2009 onwards, the catering system had changed   and inmates had been able to eat in the police canteen, but at lunch and dinner times   only, thus depriving them of breakfast. Lastly, Mr Ibram complained that he had been   isolated from the outside world because newspapers were banned and there was no   television.   In March 2009 Mr. Ibram requested that the pre-trial detention measure be replaced by   another measure. The indictments chamber rejected his application on the ground that   he represented a flight risk. Later, Mr Ibram informed the prosecutor at the Thessaloniki   Criminal Court and the Greek Ombudsman of the conditions of his detention and asked   that they be improved. In June 2009 Mr Ibram was transferred to Thessaloniki Judicial   Prison.   Under Articles 43 and 44 of the Convention, this Chamber judgment is not final. During the three-month   period following its delivery, any party may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the   Court. If such a request is made, a panel of five judges considers whether the case deserves further   examination. In that event, the Grand Chamber will hear the case and deliver a final judgment. If the referral   request is refused, the Chamber judgment will become final on that day.   Once a judgment becomes final, it is transmitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for   supervision of its execution. Further information about the execution process can be found here:   www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/execution   Complaints, procedure and composition of the Court   Relying on Article 3 of the Convention, the applicant complained that the conditions of   his detention in the facilities of Thessaloniki police headquarters had constituted   inhuman and degrading treatment.   The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 25 June 2009.   Judgment was given by a Chamber of seven, composed as follows:   Nina Vajić (Croatia), PRESIDENT,   Elisabeth Steiner (Austria),   Khanlar Hajiyev (Azerbaijan),   Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia),   Julia Laffranque (Estonia),   Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos (Greece),   Erik Møse (Norway), JUDGES,   and also Søren Nielsen, SECTION REGISTRAR.   Decision of the Court   Article 3   The Court reiterated that measures depriving a person of his liberty inevitably involved   an element of suffering or humiliation and that the State had an obligation to ensure   that all prisoners were detained in conditions compatible with respect for their human   dignity, that the manner in which they were detained did not subject them to excessive   distress or hardship and that their health and well-being were adequately secured.   The Court observed that the conditions of detention in the facilities of the Thessaloniki   police headquarters had already been the subject of judgments in which the Court had   found a violation of Article 3 of the Convention.   The Court noted that the truth of Mr Ibram’s allegations concerning the conditions of his   detention was not disputed. It recalled that these allegations were moreover,   corroborated by the reports of the Greek Ombudsman, who had previously, in May 2007,   paid a visit to the Thessaloniki police headquarters for the transfer of detainees, in order   to examine, among other things, the conditions of detention.   The Court observed that Mr Ibram had been held for more than four months in facilities   designed to hold prisoners for short periods and which were not suitable for prolonged   periods of imprisonment. During the first two months of his detention, there had also   been a problem with catering. Although the detainee catering system had improved   slightly since Mr Ibram’s arrival, the fact remained that the other problems, namely, the   lack of cleanliness of the cells, the lack of an exercise space and the lack of any kind of   distraction, had continued.   The Court noted that the conditions, in which Mr Ibram had been held in those facilities,   together with the duration of his detention, four months and five days, amounted to   inhuman and degrading treatment in breach of Article 3.   Article 41   The Court ordered Greece to pay the applicant 7,000 euros (EUR) in respect of non-   pecuniary damage and rejected the claim for costs and expenses.   The judgment is available only in French.   This press release is a document produced by the Registry. It does not bind the Court.   Decisions, judgments and further information about the Court can be found on   www.echr.coe.int. To receive the Court’s press releases, please subscribe to the Court’s   RSS feeds.   Press contacts   [email protected]e.int | tel: +33 3 90 21 42 08   Petra Leppee Fraize (+ 33 3 88 41 29 07)   Emma Hellyer (tel: + 33 3 90 21 42 15)   Tracey Turner-Tretz (tel: + 33 3 88 41 35 30)   Kristina Pencheva-Malinowski (tel: + 33 3 88 41 35 70)   Nina Salomon (tel: + 33 3 90 21 49 79)   Denis Lambert (tel: + 33 3 90 21 41 09)   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.   3