In June 1994, Bogusław Pyrak was accused of committing a number of white-collar crimes related to an agricultural cooperative he managed. Accused of a host of crimes, including theft, fraud and the falsification of documents, Mr. Pyrak was also found to have obstructed justice by presenting doctors’ certificates in an attempt to prove he suffered from a medical condition, which delayed proceedings and caused the court to order that he be held in pre-trial detainment from February 1997 to January 1998.
An unjust detainment
The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights argued that Mr. Pyrak’s detention was unwarranted. “In the criminal proceedings, the HFHR presented an amicus curiae brief in which we argued that the position taken by the courts was unfair for the defendant. We also submitted that the evidence showed no basis for pre-trial detention,” said Adam Bodnar, HFHR’s deputy president.
The criminal case against Mr. Pyrak was concluded in August 2012 with his acquittal by the Płock Regional Court, which had twice asked prosecutors to amend the indictment, pointing out evidentiary gaps in the case.
The Court of Human Rights intervenes
The European Court of Human Rights heard Mr. Pyrak’s case and issued its judgment while the domestic case was still pending. It found that his pre-trial detention violated the Convention on Human Rights in a number of ways. The Court noted that the Polish court had failed to consider other preventive measures, for instance in its dismissal of a motion to accept the personal sureties given by Dr. Marek Edelman and Senator Wacław Strażewicz.
According to Dr. Bodnar, “The Strasbourg Court also found that Poland had violated the Convention by failing to examine Bogusław Pyrak’s interlocutory appeal against the extension of the period of his pre-trial detention.”
“No money can make good for the harm he has suffered"
Following the conclusion of the criminal case, Mr. Pyrak filed a suit for the financial loss and personal suffering he experienced during his detainment.
“Bogusław Pyrak has sought compensation for personal injuries, which consisted primarily in a violation of his personal dignity and deterioration of his health,” said Zuzanna Rudzińska-Bluszcz, an advocate with the firm Wardyński i Wspólnicy and a pro-bono attorney for Mr. Pyrak. “He also claimed damages on account of financial loss, including lost profits – income from his farm – and the costs of medical treatment and medicines, incurred as a consequence of the deterioration of his health, which happened during his detention, which lasted for more than a year."
The Płock Regional Court awarded Mr. Pyrak an amount of nearly 35,000 euros (145,000 Polish złoty). Yet this cannot make up for all that was lost. “No money can make good for the harm he has suffered. This case should never have happened, plain and simple,” said Dr Bodnar.
The judgment is not yet final. Ms. Rudzińska-Bluszcz has said that since not all of her client’s claims have been awarded, she will only consider an appeal after reading the written justification of the entire judgment on damages.
