MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that evidence used to convict a drug-trafficking suspect in Germany violated the man’s right to a fair trial.
Human rights judges unanimously agreed that there was “a violation of Article 6 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights" made by a German court in the case of Andreas Furcht, according to the organization's official website.
German courts have been ordered to pay Furcht 8,000 euros ($10,133) in non-pecuniary damages and 8,500 euros in respect to costs and expenses for unfairly arresting and convicting the man of two counts of drug trafficking resulting in a sentence of five years imprisonment in October 2008.
Undercover police first approached Furcht in 2007 in hopes of gaining contact with his friend, a drug-trafficking suspect. Police pushed for a drug deal with Furcht to obtain information on his friend's whereabouts. Furcht repeatedly refused to be directly involved in the plans, however officers convinced him to change his mind. Furcht eventually arranged two drug purchases for the officers in late February and March.
Furcht was arrested and convicted in October 2008 after the second transaction. Furcht’s previous attempts to appeal the court’s decision were unsuccessful.
