CAN v. AUSTRIA JUGDMENT 3 AS TO THE FACTS 7. Elvan Can is a Turkish citizen born in 1947. In 1971, he settled in Austria with his wife. He was arrested by the Gmunden police on 17 August 1980, on suspicion of having participated in an offence of arson (Brandstiftung) committed on 8 August and involving a restaurant which he managed on behalf of an Austrian citizen, Mrs. E.R. She too was arrested, as was a brother of the applicant, who was presumed to have started the fire. On 19 August, an investigating judge ordered that the applicant be detained on remand at Wels, as he thought that there was both a danger of absconding and a danger of suppression of evidence (Fluchtgefahr and Verdunkelungsgefahr; Article 180 para. 2, sub-paragraphs 1 and 2, of the Code of Criminal Procedure). 8. Mr. Can subsequently made a number of applications for release in which he claimed that there was no reason to keep him in custody and pleaded, inter alia, the Convention. The Review Chamber (Ratskammer) of the Wels Regional Court (Kreisgericht) rejected the first three applications on 2 September 1980, 30 September 1980 and 13 January 1981; on 6 October 1980 and 19 January 1981, Elvan Can lodged appeals with the Linz Court of Appeal (Oberlandesgericht) but they were dismissed on 22 October 1980 and 28 January 1981. A fourth application, made on 23 February 1981, was also apparently unsuccessful. However, on 30 April 1981 a fifth, dated 22 April, was granted by the Review Chamber, in the sense that it ordered Mr. Can’s release on certain conditions, including the deposit of 90,000 Schillings as security. Mr. Can, who claimed to be unable to find such a sum and who had offered - as an alternative - to put up 20,000 Schillings, which had been collected by relatives and compatriots, appealed to the Linz Court of Appeal. That Court confirmed the Review Chamber’s order on 27 May 1981. A sixth application (28 August 1981) was likewise rejected by the Review Chamber (16 September 1981) and by the Court of Appeal (2 October 1981). The Court of Appeal also gave authority, on 28 January, 25 February and 8 April 1981, for the detention on remand to be continued, if thought fit, for a total of up to seven, eight and ten months, respectively (Article 193 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). The various decisions listed above referred, basically, to the persistence of suspicions and of the danger of absconding, as well as to the scope and complexity of the investigations. On the other hand, after 22 October 1980 they no longer mentioned the danger of suppression of evidence: under Article 193 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, such a danger can ground detention on remand only for a maximum of two months, or three months if

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