4
GÄFGEN v. GERMANY JUDGMENT
property near Birstein, approximately one hour’s drive from Frankfurt, and
hid J.’s corpse under a jetty.
13. On 30 September 2002 at around 1 a.m. the applicant picked up the
ransom at a tram station. From then on he was under police surveillance. He
paid part of the ransom money into his bank accounts and hid the remainder
of the money in his flat. That afternoon, he was arrested at Frankfurt am
Main airport with the police pinning him face down on the ground.
14. After having been examined by a doctor at the airport’s hospital on
account of shock and skin lesions, the applicant was taken to the Frankfurt
am Main police headquarters. He was informed by detective officer M. that
he was suspected of having kidnapped J. and was instructed about his rights
as a defendant, notably the right to remain silent and to consult a lawyer. He
was then questioned by M. with a view to finding J. Meanwhile, the police,
having searched the applicant’s flat, found half of the ransom money and a
note concerning the planning of the crime. The applicant intimated that the
child was being held by another kidnapper. At 11.30 p.m. he was allowed to
consult a lawyer, Z., for thirty minutes at his request. He subsequently
indicated that F.R. and M.R. had kidnapped the boy and had hidden him in a
hut by a lake.
15. Early in the morning of 1 October 2002, before M. came to work,
Mr Daschner (“D.”), deputy chief of the Frankfurt police, ordered another
officer, Mr Ennigkeit (“E.”), to threaten the applicant with considerable
physical pain, and, if necessary, to subject him to such pain in order to make
him reveal the boy’s whereabouts. D.’s subordinate heads of department had
previously and repeatedly opposed such a measure (see also paragraph 47
below). Detective officer E. thereupon threatened the applicant with
subjection to considerable pain at the hands of a person specially trained for
such purposes if he did not disclose the child’s whereabouts. According to
the applicant, the officer further threatened to lock him in a cell with two
huge black men who would sexually abuse him. The officer also hit him
several times on the chest with his hand and shook him so that, on one
occasion, his head hit the wall. The Government disputed that the applicant
had been threatened with sexual abuse or had been physically assaulted
during the questioning.
16. For fear of being exposed to the measures he was threatened with,
the applicant disclosed the whereabouts of J.’s body after approximately ten
minutes.
17. The applicant was then driven with M. and numerous other police
officers to Birstein. He had refused to go with detective officer E. The
police waited for a video camera to be brought to the scene. Then, the
applicant, on the communicated order of the police officer in command and
while being filmed, pointed out the precise location of the body. The police
found J.’s corpse under the jetty at the pond near Birstein as indicated by the
applicant. The applicant claimed that he had been obliged to walk without