Pre-Trial Detentions in Wroclaw May Breach EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

BRUSSELS, January 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

After more than 10 weeks in prison, six persons detained by Mr Piotr Kalecinski the State Prosecutor in Wroclaw, Poland, still do not know what charges may be brought against them.

The detainees have yet to receive notice of any charges.

The investigation by the Wroclaw Prosecutor's office has been running for 3 years, and has involved two police raids on the Polish offices of K.u.K. International and SACMET in November 2012 and November 2013.

An international Human Rights expert has commented that the current detentions in Poland risk contravening Article 47 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights which states that: "Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable period of time by an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law."

"Everyone in the EU has the right to have their affairs handled fairly and impartially under Article 41 the Charter," he went on to say, "and the administrative actions being taken at State level in Wroclaw risk taking Poland into the opposite direction from the commitments that have been made to respect the Charter of Fundamental Rights as a signatory of the EU Treaties."

According to a report produced for Fair Trials International by the international law firm Clifford Chance, Poland has already been criticised by the European Court of Human Rights for imposing excessive lengths of pre-trial detention, failing to provide adequate reasons why pre-trial detention is necessary and failing to consider alternatives to pre-trial detention.

Polish law dictates that pre-trial detention can be imposed for a period of 3 months, but defendants cannot be held in prison where other preventive measures suffice.

"It is unacceptable that innocent people should be imprisoned without charge, and without access to legal aid," a spokesman for K.u.K. International said. "We have already brought these matters to the attention of the Prosecutor General in Poland, the European Parliament's Petitions Committee, and we are now filing a formal complaint with Amnesty International drawing attention to the actions of Piotr Kalecinski and the breaches of human rights in Wroclaw."

"This is a European election year, and it is time for all Polish politicians to distance modern Poland ever further from its Soviet past, and to make renewed efforts for Poland to continue to move closer to respect for the EU values enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights."

For more information see http://www.kmetkostory.org    

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