Published on 18 September 2023

FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 30741/22 Darko VESKOVIĆ against Serbia lodged on 16 June 2022 communicated on 1 September 2023

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns the reasons for and the length of the applicant’s pre-trial detention, as well as the review of its lawfulness.

Following an arrest warrant issued by the Serbian authorities, the applicant was arrested in Croatia on suspicion of aggravated murder and illegal production, possession and circulation of firearms and explosives. On 3 July 2018 he was extradited to Serbia. The applicant’s detention was ordered and then extended on numerous occasions based on the following two grounds: (a) the risk of absconding; and (b) the risk of reoffending. The applicant repeatedly challenged his detention. The decision of the Constitutional Court was rendered on 24 January 2023, two years and six months after the applicant’s constitutional appeal had been lodged.

The applicant complains under Article 5 of the Convention about: (a) the length of his pre-trial detention and the allegedly abstract and repetitive reasoning offered by the domestic courts in this respect; and (b) the “speediness” of detention-related proceedings before the Constitutional Court.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Was the length of the applicant’s pre-trial detention and/or the reasoning offered by the domestic courts therefor in breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention (see, amongst other authorities, Radonjić and Romić v. Serbia , no. 43674/16, §§ 61-70, 4 April 2023; Stevan Petrović v. Serbia , nos. 6097/16 and 28999/19, §§ 141-145, 20 April 2021; Grujović v. Serbia , no. 25381/12, §§ 45-49, 21 July 2015; and, mutatis mutandis , Đermanović v. Serbia , no. 48497/06, §§ 73-78, 23 February 2010)?

2. Was the procedure by which the applicant sought to challenge the lawfulness of his pre-trial detention in conformity with Article 5 § 4 of the Convention? In particular, did the length of the proceedings before the Constitutional Court, by which the applicant sought to challenge the lawfulness of his pre-trial detention, comply with the requirement of “speediness” in Article 5 § 4 of the Convention (see, mutatis mutandis , Radonjić and Romić v. Serbia , no. 43674/16, §§ 90-102, 4 April 2023)?

3. The Government are lastly invited to provide the Court with a factual update regarding the developments in the criminal proceedings at issue as of 24 January 2023, including the applicant’s detention, and to submit copies of the relevant decisions in this regard, if any.