LETELLIER v. FRANCE JUDGMENT 17 45. The Government considered on the other hand that court supervision would not have been sufficient to avert the consequences and risks of the alleged offence. 46. When the only remaining reason for continued detention is the fear that the accused will abscond and thereby subsequently avoid appearing for trial, he must be released if he is in a position to provide adequate guarantees to ensure that he will so appear, for example by lodging a security (see the Wemhoff judgment, cited above, Series A no. 7, p. 25, § 15). The Court notes, in agreement with the Commission, that the indictments divisions did not establish that this was not the case in this instance. 4. The preservation of public order 47. The decisions of the Paris indictments division of 22 January, 5 March and 23 December 1986 and of 10 April and 24 August 1987 (see paragraphs 13 and 23 above), like that of the Amiens indictments division of 17 March 1987 (see paragraph 21 above), emphasized the need to protect public order from the disturbance caused by Mr Merdy’s murder. 48. The applicant argued that disturbance to public order could not result from the mere commission of an offence. 49. According to the Commission, the danger of such a disturbance, which it understood to mean disturbance of public opinion, following the release of a suspect, cannot derive solely from the gravity of a crime or the charges pending against the person concerned. In order to determine whether there was a danger of this nature, it was in its view necessary to take account of other factors, such as the possible attitude and conduct of the accused once released; the French courts had not done this in the present case. 50. For the Government, on the other hand, the disturbance to public order is generated by the offence itself and the circumstances in which it has been perpetrated. Representing an irreparable attack on the person of a human being, any murder greatly disturbs the public order of a society concerned to guarantee human rights, of which respect for human life represents an essential value, as is shown by Article 2 (art. 2) of the Convention. The resulting disturbance is even more profound and lasting in the case of premeditated and organised murder. There were grave and corroborating indications to suggest that Mrs Letellier had conceived the scheme of murdering her husband and instructed third parties to carry it out in return for payment. 51. The Court accepts that, by reason of their particular gravity and public reaction to them, certain offences may give rise to a social disturbance capable of justifying pre-trial detention, at least for a time. In exceptional circumstances this factor may therefore be taken into account for the purposes of the Convention, in any event in so far as domestic law

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