A Singaporean, who was serving time in four different Romanian prisons for robbery and blackmail, has successfully complained all the way to the European Human Rights Court about poor prison conditions and won compensation.

Goh Yong Seng was sentenced to 15 years' jail in 2001 for blackmail and robbery.

Over the course of his sentence, Goh was held at four different prisons in the capital Bucharest.

[quip float="pqright"]He started serving his sentence in March 2001 at Jilava Prison and complained that it was unbearable there when the weather was hot[/quip].

Two to three inmates shared a bed there, and 40 to 50 of them were placed in one cell. The court noted that he had to share a bed with a man who was covered in wounds.

In July that year, he was moved to Rahova Prison. Cells measuring 3m by 6m meant for 10 men housed up 12 to 14 inmates.

Two years into his sentence, in April 2003, Goh first complained in a letter to the European court about prison conditions while he was at this prison.

Between 2005 and 2009, he repeated and detailed his complaints in three subsequent letters about the three prisons where he was held.

In January 2009, he found himself at Margenini Prison, where he shared a 48 sq m cell with 27 others.

The Romanian authorities had at first disputed Mr Goh's claims.

But the court found Goh's claims credible as the lack of personal space was made worse by poor hygiene conditions, though it made clear that there had been no intention by the Romanian authorities to humiliate or debase him.

The court noted that prisoners do not lose the protection of their rights under the European Convention.

Subsequently, in June 2011, the court based in Strasbourg, France, found his claims of overcrowding justified.

The Romanian government was ordered to pay Goh 16,000 euros (S$27,000) in compensation.

Released last year for good behaviour, Goh, now 55 is on parole for the remaining four years of his sentence and is living in Romania.

Before his arrest, Goh had been well known in the Chinese community when living in Romania. He helped people obtain residence permit extensions and recovered debts.

He was sentenced to a maximum of 15 years imprisonment partly because of his violent attitude during his trial. He threatened the victims in Mandarin while they testified and he was previously jailed in 1996 for robbery.

Since the European court's findings, steps have been taken to improve detention conditions to meet European standards.

Some measures taken include expanding capacity within prisons.

Top photo from here

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