The High Court has ordered Dario Celik’s surrender to Croatia under two European arrest warrants, after rejecting his objection that prison conditions there could expose him to inhuman or degrading treatment.
Mr Justice David Keane delivered the judgment on 28 February 2023. The warrants seek his surrender to serve two separate one-year sentences imposed by the municipal court in Osijek. The court directed surrender under section 16(2) of the European Arrest Warrant Act for the first warrant and section 16(1) for the second.
The first sentence followed a kiosk break-in and theft in the early hours of 17 January 2015. It became final on 8 November 2016 and enforceable on 1 December that year. The second sentence covered four break-ins and thefts from an agricultural supplies business and a fuel supply business between April and August 2013. It became final and enforceable on 11 January 2017. Each warrant stated that the full year remained to be served.
Mr Celik argued that a 2018 report by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture described overcrowding and other problems in Croatian prisons. He relied in particular on reports that personal space in some multi-occupancy cells at Osijek and Zagreb prisons had fallen below three square metres, as well as concerns about healthcare and alleged ill-treatment in certain prisons.
The High Court sought information about where Mr Celik would be held and the conditions there. Croatia identified Osijek Prison. In correspondence, its authorities said prisoners in shared cells were provided at least four square metres each, but acknowledged that increased numbers and new pre-trial detainees could mean some prisoners would not have that space throughout their detention. The authorities described measures including time outside cells, daily walks, access to light and hygiene facilities, and medical care.
Justice Keane held that the material did not establish substantial grounds to believe Mr Celik would face a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment in Osijek Prison. He also held that, even if there were a risk of space falling below three square metres, the information and assurances provided were sufficient to rebut the resulting presumption of a breach. He rejected the prison-conditions objection.
The court was satisfied that the statutory requirements for both warrants had been met and that surrender was not prohibited. It found that the offences corresponded to burglary under Irish law and that each one-year sentence exceeded the four-month threshold. The court ordered surrender to a person authorised by Croatia to receive him. The judgment records the order; it does not state that the surrender had already taken place.