Date: 19 July 2001
The applicants, Armand Atlan and his son Thierry, both French nationals, were born in 1932 and 1970 respectively. Prior to the events in question they lived in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The second applicant died in June 1998 and the first applicant now lives in France.
On 5 July 1991, at the Crown Court at Isleworth, Middlesex, the applicants were convicted of illegally importing 18 kilograms of cocaine (with a street value of GBP 2-3 million) into Heathrow Airport, London, on 3 November 1990. The first applicant was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment and a confiscation order of GBP 1,918,489.60 with a further 10 years’ prison to be served in default of payment. The second applicant was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a confiscation order of GBP 6,140.66 or serve a further six months in prison.
The applicants complained that they had been denied a fair trial in breach of Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 d) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Citation: Atlan v the United Kingdom (App no 36533/97) ECHR 19 June 2001
(from the official press-release prepared by the Registry Office of the European Court of Human Rights)
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