The first applicant, A., is a Libyan national, born in 1972 and living in the Netherlands.A. entered the Netherlands in November 1997 and applied, unsuccessfully, for asylum as he feared persecution in Libya for his involvement since 1988 in a clandestine, nameless opposition group. Following a report by the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service, he was arrested in August 2002 on suspicion of belonging to a criminal organisation conducting a holy war (jihad) against the Netherlands. He was acquitted of all charges in June 2003. In November 2005, an exclusion order was imposed on him in the Netherlands as he was found to represent a danger to national security.
The applicant complained that, if expelled or deported to the country of his origin, he would be at risk of being subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, in breach of Article 3. A. further complained under Article 13 that he could not effectively challenge the ground used – that they were a threat to national security – for the exclusion orders against them.
(from the official press-release prepared by the Registry Office of the European Court of Human Rights)