Doc. 9309

8 January 2002

Hakkar case

Written Question No. 403 to the Committee of Ministers

by Mr. Jurgens

Recalling that the finding of a violation of the right to a fair hearing in the Hakkar case dates back to December 1995;

Knowing that the Commission de réexamen, set up by a law of 16 June 2000, decided in November 2000 to reconsider the case of Mr Hakkar and sent it to the Cour d'Assises of the Hauts-de-Seine;

Learning that no action has been taken for a whole year in spite of the commitment taken by the French government when the Committee of Ministers adopted its final resolution in this case, to retry Mr Hakkar by the end of spring 2001 and to proceed with great "diligence";

      Mr Jurgens,

To ask the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers,

-       on what legal grounds Mr Hakkar is still being kept in prison, although his trial has been declared unfair, and he has in the meantime served his 18-year sentence;

-       whether the previous sentence has been annulled with a view to a new trial, and if not, if the old sentence still applies, is this not an infringement of the rule of "ne bis in idem";

-       whether it is true that his case before a civil court asking for Mr Hakkar’s release on the ground that his continuing imprisonment is unlawful, considering that he has not had a fair trial, has been stopped by the Préfet of Ile-de-France who brought the case before the Tribunal des conflits in April 2000, and that no decision has been taken by the Tribunal des conflits one-and-a-half years later;

-       whether it is true that Mr Hakkar is now being held on the ground of "evasion par bris de prison" committed respectively in 1988 and 1992, for which he was condemned to one-and-a-half and eight years' imprisonment, and that this sentence is now being executed on top of the 18 years he has already served, and if so, is this in the special case of Mr Hakkar, compatible with reasonable principles of justice;

-       whether it is true that Mr Hakkar is being kept in solitary confinement;

-       whether it is willing to reopen its consideration of the case, now that France has not done what it promised to do when the case was closed by the Committee of Ministers.

Signed¹ :

Jurgens, Netherlands, SOC

¹ SOC: Socialist Group