Sentences served, but still in jail

Published on 8 February 2011 at 11:19

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"The judge: murderers have rights too." The German Constitutional Court has begun to assess complaints filed by four inmates remaining in secure detention even though they have already served their sentences. The Tageszeitung has published an interview with a former German judge of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in which he says that the ECHR has already asked Germany to release a hundred detainees who remain in prison, despite having seen out their sentences, because of the alleged threat they pose. According to the Court, German law that establishes the retroactivity of security detention is unlawful. “What’s at stake is respect for the Convention on Human Rights in Germany", warns the paper. The Karlsruhe court will deliver its ruling in a few months.

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