Published on 3 April 2023

SECOND SECTION

Applications nos. 38182/21 and 38273/21 Jordan KAMCHEV against North Macedonia lodged on 21 July 2021 and 29 July 2021 respectively communicated on 13 March 2023

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The applications concern the applicant’s pre-trial detention in the context of the criminal proceedings against him on suspicion of money laundering. He was remanded in custody on 14 March 2021 for thirty days on the grounds of risk of absconding. The detention was later extended on six occasions. The last detention order submitted to the Court was adopted on 9 September 2021 and confirmed by the Skopje Court of Appeal on 27 September 2021. It appears that the detention was extended again after the latter date, but no further detention orders have been submitted to the Court. The applicant was indicted on 12 May 2021.

All orders for his pre-trial detention were based on the nature and type of the offence of which he was suspected, as well as the gravity of the charges and severity of the potential penalty. The courts also took into consideration the fact that the applicant had a dual citizenship and had previously taken shelter in Bulgaria, where he had business and personal relationships. Lastly, the courts took account of his wealth and foreign business relations, and the fact that there were other ongoing criminal proceedings against him.

When lodging appeals against the detention orders of 12 April, 12 May, 11 June and 9 July 2021, the applicant asked to be released on bail. In the appeals against the last two of the said orders, he suggested that the Skopje Court of Appeal determine the conditions for such release. The said court did not accept any of the applicant’s proposals for bail; when doing so, it cited the relevant legal provisions and held that no other measure would be effective enough in securing the applicant’s presence during the criminal proceedings.

The applicant complains that the domestic courts did not properly consider alternatives to detention, namely, his proposals for release on bail. He further complains that the courts did not provide sufficient reasons for the extension of his pre-trial detention and did not properly respond to his arguments concerning, among others, the lawfulness of certain evidence and the existing preventive measures ordered in another set of criminal proceedings against him. Lastly, he complains that the Skopje Court of Appeal did not hold oral hearings when examining his appeals against the impugned detention orders, save on one occasion, and that he was not informed sufficiently in advance about the oral hearing before the said court scheduled on 30 July 2021. He invokes Article 5 § 3 and Article 6 of the Convention.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Was the applicant’s detention on remand from 12 April 2021 onwards compatible with Article 5 § 3 of the Convention? In particular, did the courts provide relevant and sufficient grounds for extending the applicant’s detention, within the meaning of this provision, during the entire period in question (see Merabishvili v. Georgia [GC], no. 72508/13, §§ 222-25, 28 November 2017, and Miladinov and Others v. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia , nos. 46398/09, 50570/09 and 50576/09, §§ 45-49, 24 April 2014)?

2. In this connection, did the domestic courts properly consider the alternatives to detention of the applicant, in particular, his requests to be released on bail lodged on 14 and 27 April, 15 and 26 May, 16 June and 15 July 2021 (see Shabani v. Switzerland , no. 29044/06, § 62, 5 November 2009, and the cases cited therein)?

3. Was the applicant heard at reasonable intervals, as required by Article 5 § 4 of the Convention, while his pre-trial detention was extended (see Çatal v. Turkey , no. 26808/08, § 33, 17 April 2012, and the cases cited therein)?

4. Was the applicant informed sufficiently in advance about the oral hearing held on 30 July 2021, in conformity with Article 5 § 4 of the Convention (see, mutatis mutandis , Venet v. Belgium , no. 27703/16, § 45, 22 October 2019)?

APPENDIX

No.

Application no.

Case name

Lodged on

Applicant Year of Birth Place of Residence Nationality

Represented by

1.

38182/21

Kamchev v. North Macedonia

21/07/2021

JORDAN KAMCHEV 1970 Skopje Macedonian / citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia and Bulgarian

TONI MENKINOSKI

2.

38273/21

29/07/2021