The applicant, Mr Charahili, was a Tunisian national who requested an asylum in Turkey. For more than a year, while his asylum application was pending before the national courts, Mr Charahili was held in a cell in the police station. The ventilation was inadequate in the cell, Mr Charahili was completely isolated and there was no provision for outdoor exercise.

Mr Charahili claimed that the poor conditions in his cell amounted to a violation of Article 3 of the Convention.

The Court emphasized that although immigration detainees may have to spend some time in ordinary police detention facilities, given that the conditions in such places may generally be inadequate for prolonged periods of detention, the period of time spent in such establishments should be kept to the absolute minimum.

Having regard, in particular, to the inordinate length of time for which Mr Charahili was detained at the police station and the allegations of inadequate conditions there on which the Government did not comment, the Court ruled that the conditions of detention of Mr Charahili in the basement of the police station amounted to degrading treatment contrary to Article 3.