MOSCOW, February 11 (RAPSI, Ingrid Burke) – The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held Tuesday that Italy’s continued detention of a man convicted of aiding and abetting Italian “Mafia-type organization” Cosa Nostra violated his right to protection against inhuman and degrading treatment, as established by Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention).

Bruno Contrada, b. 1931, was sentenced in 1996 to ten years in prison based on a conviction for aiding and abetting Cosa Nostra. The Italian court determined at that point that Contrada had spent most of the 1980s contributing to Cosa Nostra’s activities in his official capacity first as a police official, and then as a high-ranking official with the High Commissioner for anti-Mafia Activities and deputy director of the Civilian Secret Services.

The 1996 decision was rooted in numerous witness statements, including those provided by former Cosa Nostra members that had decided to work with the authorities. 
Proceedings in the case carried on for upwards of another ten years. Contrada’s appeal was dismissed by Italy’s Court of Cassation in 2008.

In May 2007, he was placed in a military prison. At that point Contrada stated in a letter to the relevant judge that he suffered from a range of medical conditions. A prison doctor confirmed this point. An earlier ECHR press release noted that he suffered from vision disorders, heart disease, and depression. In October of the same year, Contrada applied for release or a stay of execution of his sentence. The request was denied, as were an additional seven that he filed thereafter.

In July 2008, Contrada was placed on house arrest at his sister’s home. He was permitted to communicate only with family members and medical professionals.

Contrada’s application for a stay of execution of his sentence was again refused, based on the danger he posed to society, the type of offense underlying his conviction, and the length of his sentence remaining to be carried out.

He was released in October 2012 after serving out his sentence.

He turned to the ECHR, complaining that his rights had been violated under the Convention’s Article 3 prohibition on inhuman or degrading treatment, and its Article 6 guarantee of the right to a fair trial.

With regard to Article 3, Contrada asserted that the court’s repeated refusal to accommodate his requests for a stay of execution of his sentence or for a conversion of the sentence to house arrest constituted inhuman and degrading treatment in light of his age and health issues.

Finding that there had been a violation of Article 3, the ECHR noted that Contrada had verified his claims of poor health with reference to ten medical reports and certificates that had been submitted to the competent authorities. The ECHR judges further pointed to the nine-month delay in allowing his transfer to house arrest.

A statement released by the ECHR following the judgment summarized the judges’ view as follows: “In the light of the medical certificates that had been available to the authorities, the time that elapsed before the applicant was placed under house arrest and the reasons given for the decisions refusing his requests, the Court found that Mr Contrada’s continued detention had been incompatible with the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment under Article 3 of the Convention.”

He further claimed that his case was not heard by an independent and impartial court, in violation of Article 6. The court rejected this point, concluding that the domestic court decisions had been fully and properly reasoned.