The applicant, Tomas Mikalauskas, is a Lithuanian national who was born in 1981 and was detained in Malta on drug charges in September 2009. He was then repeatedly remanded in custody over a period of ten months, after which he was granted bail subject to high financial guarantees. As he was unable to pay, he remained in pre-trial detention for another 12 months. He was eventually released from detention in July 2011 when the guarantees were reduced. He currently lives in Qawra, Malta, while the criminal proceedings are still pending against him. Relying on Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), Mr Mikalauskas alleges that the conditions of his detention were inhuman and degrading given the health problems (recurring headaches) he suffers from, and that the medical care provided to him in detention was inadequate. He also complains under Article 5 §§ 3 and 4 (right to liberty and security) about the excessive length of his detention on remand and his inability to effectively contest the lawfulness of his detention on account of the repeated refusals to grant him bail and the high financial guarantees once bail was eventually granted.
Citation: Mikalauskas v Malta (App no 4458/10) ECHR 23 July 2013
(citation from the official press-release prepared by the Registry Office of the European Court of Human Rights)