ABSTRACT
Mr Saïd André Remli was a French national of Algerian origin. On 16 April 1985, while attempting to escape from Lyons-Montluc Prison, the applicant and a fellow prisoner of Algerian nationality, Mr Boumédienne Merdji, knocked out a warder, who died four months later as a result of the blows he had received. The two prisoners were charged with intentional homicide and were committed for trial at the Rhône Assize Court. The trial at the Assize Court took place on 12 to 14 April 1989. A jury was empanelled and the hearing of witnesses began. On 13 April 1989 the applicant’s counsel submitted that a remark had been made by one of the jurors and overheard by a third person, Mrs M. That remark was ‘What’s more, I’m a racist.’ The Court refused the application made to it for formal note to be taken. On 14 April 1989 the Assize Court sentenced Mr Remli to life imprisonment and Mr Merdji to a twenty-year term. The applicant’s appeal was dismissed by the Court of Cassation on 22 November 1989. He complained that he had not had a hearing by an impartial tribunal and that he had also suffered discrimination on the ground of racial origin. Comm found by majority (7-4) V 6(1).
