Published on 8 June 2026
 
SECOND SECTION
Application no. 25501/24
J.K.
against Hungary
lodged on 28 August 2024
communicated on 18 May 2026
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The application concerns the alleged assault of a 50-year-old prisoner with a psycho-social disability by the prison guards and the subsequent criminal investigation into the circumstances of the assault.
On 25 June 2022, the applicant was allegedly assaulted by several prison guards, who allegedly hit and kicked him repeatedly, in the sanitary facility of the Tiszalök Prison.
On 27 June 2022 the applicant’s partner submitted a complaint to the relevant supervisory department of the Office of the Attorney General. On 15 July 2022 the Debrecen Regional Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into the applicant’s alleged assault by the prison guards. On 15 July 2022 the investigating authority requested the prison to forward information concerning the applicant’s placement and state of health, as well as the video recording made on the day of the incident along with its analysis. Furthermore, after receiving authorisation from the investigating authority on 11 February 2026, the applicant submitted his written statement to that authority. Finally, between 17 February and 5 March 2026 the police interviewed five former cellmates of the applicant as witnesses, allegedly without informing the applicant’s representative. The investigation is still ongoing.
Relying on Article 3 of the Convention, the applicant complains that he was ill-treated by the prison guards and that the investigation into the alleged assault has not been effective because of the delays, inactivity and the involvement of the Tiszalök prison authorities in the investigative measures.
 
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1.  Was the applicant subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention in the Tiszalök Prison (see Bouyid v. Belgium [GC], no. 23380/09, §§ 81-88 and 100-101, ECHR 2015)?
 
2.  Having regard to the procedural protection from inhuman or degrading treatment, has the investigation in the present case complied with the requirements of Article 3 of the Convention (see Labita v. Italy [GC], no. 26772/95, § 131, ECHR 2000-IV, and Bouyid, cited above, §§ 118-20, 122 and 123)? Did the authorities investigate promptly and with reasonable expedition (see Bouyid, cited above, § 121, and Baranin and Vukčević v. Montenegro, nos. 24655/18 and 24656/18, § 136, 11 March 2021)?
 
3.  The Government are invited to submit factual information on the status of the criminal investigation and the investigative measures taken with respect to the applicant’s allegations by the authorities so far.