The purpose of the visit was to examine the situation of Radislav KRSTIĆ, a prisoner convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) who is serving his sentence in the United Kingdom.(1) On 7 May 2010, some two months after having been visited by a delegation of the CPT, this prisoner was assaulted by other inmates in his cell at Wakefield Prison. In the light of this event, the CPT considered it necessary to observe for itself the prisoner’s current conditions and treatment, and to hold discussions with senior officials responsible for his care.

The CPT’s delegation consisted of Wolfgang HEINZ, Head of delegation and member of the Committee in respect of Germany, Veronica PIMENOFF, Expert for psychiatry at Helsinki Administrative Court (Finland), and Hugh CHETWYND, Head of Division, of the CPT’s Secretariat.

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(1) This specific monitoring activity of the CPT flows from an Exchange of Letters between the ICTY and the CPT, dated 7 and 24 November 2000, and an Agreement between the United Nations and the United Kingdom Government, dated 11 March 2004.