Mr Jean-Claude Cardot is a French national and works as a road haulier. On 27 November 1979 the Italian police arrested Mr Cardot in Verona while he was carrying 455 kg of hashish in his lorry; the investigating judge at Valence was informed of the arrest on 30 November. On 21 June 1980 the Verona District Court sentenced the applicant to five years and one month’s imprisonment, but on appeal the Venice Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to three years and seven months.
In his application Mr Cardot complained that he had been convicted on the strength of evidence gathered in connection with proceedings to which he had not been a party and that he had not had an opportunity, either at his trial or on appeal, to challenge or have challenged those who had testified against him.
Citation: Cardot v France (App no 11069/84) ECHR 19 March 1991
(from the official press-release prepared by the Registry Office of the European Court of Human Rights)