Date: 19 April 2001
Donald Peers is a British national. On August 1994 Mr Peers, who had been treated for heroin addiction in the United Kingdom, was arrested at Athens Airport on drug-related charges. On 24 August he was taken to Koridallos prison in Greece as a remand prisoner. He was subsequently convicted.
He was first detained in the prison’s psychiatric hospital before being moved to the segregation unit of Delta wing and then, Alpha wing. In Delta wing, he claimed he shared a small cell with one other prisoner, with an open toilet, which often failed to work, in hot, cramped conditions with little natural light and no ventilation. In Alpha wing, conditions were also cramped and unhygienic, he claimed. He had no access to vocational courses or activities or a library.
The applicant complained that the conditions of his detention violated Article 3 of the Convention. He also relied on Article 6 § 2, in that the treatment of remand and convicted prisoners was identical, and Article 8, in that letters addressed to him by the European Commission of Human Rights were opened by the prison administration.
Citation: Peers v Greece (App no 28524/95) ECHR 19 April 2001
(from the official press-release prepared by the Registry Office of the European Court of Human Rights)
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