Communicated on 26 August 2014

THIRD SECTION

Application no. 38238/13 Valentin PLETOSU HALUNGESCU against Romania lodged on 6 June 2013

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Valentin Pletosu Halungescu , is a Romanian national, who was born in 1968 and is currently detained in Ia ÅŸ i Prison .

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

On 4 May 2010 the applicant was placed in pre-trial detention in Bac ă u Prison. In March 2011 he was transferred to Ia ş i Prison where he is currently serving a sentence of eleven years imprisonment for rape. He is very often transferred to Bac ă u Prison in order to appear before the courts for various reasons.

The applicant alleges that the conditions of detention in Bac ă u Prison, both during his pre-trial detention and currently during his repeated transfers, were inhuman. More specifically, he was held in solitary confinement, in very small damp cells, without glass in the windows, without heating in the winter and with inadequate sanitary installations and used matrasses.

The applicant further alleges that in Ia ÅŸ i Prison there is severe overcrowding, poor hygiene and presence of bugs and very poor quality of food. He also alleges that the cells have no ventilation and in the summer it is extremely hot.

Lastly, according to a medical certificate drafted in March 2011 at the Rahova Prison Hospital in Bucharest, the applicant was suffering from gastritis and lumbar discopathy. He was recommended diet, medicine for his digestive problems and against the pain, to abstain from effort and to avoid the cold and humidity. In this respect the applicant submits that the medical treatment available to prisoners in both Bac ă u and Ia ş i Prisons was of very poor quality, with the absence of an in-house dentist and lengthy gaps in the supply of necessary medicine, such as the usual medicine for his digestive problems.

C OMPLAINT

The applicant complains in substance under Article 3 of the Convention about the inhuman conditions of detention in Bac ă u and Ia ş i Prisons . More specifically, he complains that he was held in solitary confinement, in very small and damp cells, without glass in the windows, without heating in the winter and with inadequate sanitary installations and used matrasses in Bac ă u Prison. He also complains of overcrowding, poor hygiene and food, presence of bugs and no ventilation in the cells in Ia ş i Prison. Lastly, the applicant complains about the poor quality medical treatment available to prisoners in both Bac ă u and Ia ş i Prisons.

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

Has the applicant been subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention, on account of the conditions of his detention and the alleged lack of adequate medical assistance in Bac ă u and Ia ş i Prisons ?

The Government are invited to submit information concerning the conditions of the applicant ’ s detention in Bac ă u and Ia ş i Prisons , in particular as regards the hygiene and the quality of matrasses, the provision of heating and ventilation in the cells, the size of the solitary confinement cells and the alleged overcrowding, poor quality of food and medical treatment.