Published on 19 June 2023

SECOND SECTION

Application no. 12192/22 Vytautas AŽUKAS against Lithuania lodged on 14 February 2022 communicated on 30 May 2023

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns the applicant’s complaint, under Article 3 of the Convention, that he had contracted tuberculosis at Marijampolė Prison. By a final court decision of 10 November 2021 the Supreme Administrative Court acknowledged that the applicant had not had tuberculosis before being detained, and that he had contracted the illness in prison.

Even so, the court noted that the applicant had been partly at fault, because, as noted by the first instance court, the applicant had for a long time used narcotic and psychotropic substances, which had contributed to weakening his immune system; he had also delayed being hospitalised, all of which contributed to him developing tuberculosis. In the light of the above, the courts deemed that a lower award for non-pecuniary damage to the applicant’s health was justified and awarded him a compensation of 800 euros.

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

Has the applicant been subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention (see Ghavtadze v. Georgia , no. 23204/07, §§ 74-77 and 86, 3 March 2009; Fűlöp v. Romania , no. 18999/04, §§ 35, 36 and 38, 24 July 2012, and, mutatis mutandis , Cătălin Eugen Micu v. Romania , no. 55104/13, § 56, 5 January 2016)?

The Court specifically refers to the applicant’s complaint that he contracted tuberculosis while detained in Marijampolė Prison.