European Court of Human Rights condemns Belgium over handling of social fraud case
On Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Belgium to pay 6,000 euros in damages after ruling that the principles of impartiality and the presumption of innocence had been violated in a social fraud case.
The case centres on Sultan K., the Ghent-based Turkish manager of NV Eurofact Services. In 2010, the Ghent Court of First Instance sentenced him to one year in prison and a 5,500 euro fine for gangmastering. The court ruled that Eurofact had acted as an illegal employment agency for horticultural companies and the meat sector, recruiting workers from the Turkish-Bulgarian community.
While an appeal was pending, Flemish newspaper De Tijd published an article on 3 June 2011 about the Turkish-Bulgarian community in Ghent. In the piece, Ghent labour auditor Danny Meirsschaut explained how suspects linked to Eurofact had been identified, describing K. as "a professional" and "a shrewd fraudster who knew the ropes".
In April 2012, the Ghent Court of Appeal ruled that the labour auditor had displayed clear bias and that the presumption of innocence had been violated. K. and NV Eurofact Services were acquitted of the gangmastering charges, although K. was fined 2,750 euros for breaches of the Social Penal Code.
In 2017, the Court of Cassation overturned the appeal ruling, prompting K. to bring the case before the European Court of Human Rights. Its judges have now condemned Belgium’s handling of the case.
Violated presumption of innocence
The European Court stressed that members of the public prosecutor’s office must always respect the presumption of innocence and exercise particular caution when speaking to the media. In this instance, the prosecutor did not merely provide factual information about an ongoing investigation, but expressed "a very negative personal opinion". Taken together, the comments gave the public the impression that the applicant had committed the offences with which he was charged, the Court said.
The judges also criticised the composition of the courts involved. The judge who had initially convicted K. in Ghent later sat on the five-judge panel of the Court of Cassation that ruled on his case. According to the European Court, this could have given rise to objectively justified doubts about the judge’s impartiality and, by extension, that of the Court of Cassation itself.
Belgium has been ordered to pay 6,000 euros in compensation and to cover the legal costs.
PHOTO © FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP
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