Communicated on 3 February 2021 Published on 22 February 2021

SECOND SECTION

Application no. 28662/16 Dragan ILIĆ against Serbia lodged on 12 May 2016

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The applicant complains, under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, about the fairness of the criminal proceedings which were brought against him, as well as the kind of evidence used to convict him. In the course of those proceedings, the applicant was ultimately found guilty of illicit drugs trafficking and was sentenced to three years ’ imprisonment. In particular and inter alia , the applicant maintains that he was essentially convicted based on: ( i ) the statement of his co-defendant, who was also found guilty of the offence in question but was, in return for his confession and for “falsely incriminating him”, reprieved from being sentenced himself; and (ii) the drugs found in possession of the said co-defendant, not the applicant personally. Moreover, according to the applicant, those drugs were also improperly seized, identified, forensically analysed and secured in the course of the criminal proceedings, raising thus various chain of custody issues.

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

Did the applicant have a fair hearing in the determination of the criminal charge against him, in accordance with Article 6 § 1 of the Convention? In particular and inter alia did the manner and the circumstances in which the applicant ’ s co-defendant had been heard and his statement had been used in the proceedings and/or the way in which the drugs in question had been seized, identified, forensically analysed, secured and used as evidence, render the entire trial unfair?