In the case of Pedev v. Bulgaria the Court held that there had been two violations concerning the prohibition of degrading treatment/obligation to conduct an investigation in respect of the applicant’s immobilisation while in hospital.

The case concerned an applicant who took part in a demonstration in 2020 and complained that he had been subjected to ill-treatment during his arrest by the police, while detained in a police station and while in hospital, where he was attached to the bed with leg restraints and handcuffs.

The Court found that the use of restraints to attach the applicant to his hospital bed, even for the relatively short period of one day, had not been strictly necessary. The measure had been capable of humiliating and debasing him in his own eyes. Furthermore, he had been kept attached to his bed during a visit by his mother, thus intensifying the psychological impact of this measure. He had therefore been subjected to degrading treatment. The authorities had also failed to comply with their obligation to carry out an effective investigation into applicant’s allegation that he had been subjected to degrading treatment while in hospital.

• Press release