The case concerns the removal of a Bosnian national with a Croatian passport from Sweden to Croatia. The applicant applied for asylum in Sweden because he feared being returned from Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina where he would face imprisonment for desertion.

The applicant claimed that the Swedish authorities had not adequately examined his claims and were collectively expelling him with other Croatian nationals in violation of Article 4 of Protocol No. 4. The Court found the application to be manifestly ill-founded because there had been no collective expulsion in the case; the applicant had received an individual decision and a suspension of his return due to mental health difficulties.

Subsequently, the Court out of its own motion, examined a potential violation of Article 3. The Court determined that there was no evidence to suggest that the applicant would be deported to Bosnia and Herzegovina upon return to Croatia. Moreover, at the time of the application, the applicant’s return was suspended due to his mental health problems, and for this reason, the Court held that it did not have to assess whether a return itself would constitute such a trauma that it would amount to torture or inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. Taking the foregoing into account and considering that there were no substantial grounds to consider that the applicant would face treatment in breach of Article 3 living in Croatia, the Court concluded that there was no violation of Article 3.