The applicant, a Moroccan national complained before the ECtHR about a violation of Article 2 of the Convention, arguing that he suffered life-threatening injuries as a result of the neglect of police officers responsible for the security of detainees in the police detention centre where he had been held and that the subsequent investigation was ineffective.

On 27 March 2015, the applicant and three other people were found by the Croatian border police in a truck smuggled into Croatia from Serbia. They were arrested and held in a room in the basement of the Bajakovo police station, awaiting deportation to Serbia. While detained in that room, a fire started in the basement, which spread uncontrollably. One of the detainees died at the police station, while two died due to their injuries. The criminal investigation by the Vukovar Public Prosecutor’s Office lasted about two years and a half and concluded that two of the police officers responsible for the security of detainees had not followed the instructions to supervise the detention room. It was also decided that these breaches fell within the area of disciplinary responsibility and that there was no need to prosecute the officers. In the disciplinary proceedings it was decided that there had been shortcomings in the monitoring of migrants and one of the officers was acquitted, while the other was sanctioned with 10 % of his monthly salary for three months, as he had risked his life to rescue the inmates. The disciplinary procedure also concluded that the insufficient space and shortcomings in the organisation of those facilities had played a role in the tragedy.  

In May 2018, the Public Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal investigation against the applicant, suspecting him of having lit the fire. The investigation was closed without further action as in June 2019 the applicant was deported from Croatia to Morocco.

Under the substantive aspect of Article 2 of the Convention, the ECtHR found that the Croatian authorities failed to provide the applicant with sufficient and reasonable protection of his life and under the procedural aspects of Article 2 of the Convention, the ECtHR held that Croatia failed to implement the provisions of domestic law guaranteeing respect for the right to life and deter similar life-endangering conduct in the future.