Facts
The appellant [A.] was sentenced to a prison term of six years for attempted murder on 21 February 2015. The execution of the sentence was suspended in favor of a custodial measure. The maximum duration of this custodial measure was reached on 20 January 2020. By decision of 6 February 2020, the criminal court extended the stationary psychiatric treatment by one year. The penal and measures enforcement authority of the Department of Justice and Security of the Canton of Basel-Stadt appealed against this decision to the Appellate Court of the Canton of Basel-Stadt and requested an extension of the measure by two years.
On 8 January 2021, the penal and measures enforcement authority requested that [A.] be placed in preventive detention from 20 January 2021 until the appeal decision. By order of 25 January 2021, preventive detention was ordered against [A.] until the final decision in the appeal proceedings.
[A.] lodged a criminal appeal with the Federal Court and requested that the order of the Appellate Court of 25 January 2021 be fully annulled and that he be immediately released from preventive detention.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the admissibility of preventive detention in independent subsequent judicial proceedings. It found that the lower court had rightly ordered preventive detention, as there was a sufficient probability that the custodial measure would be extended.
The court rejected the appellant's complaint that the lower court had not examined the general ground for detention of sufficient probability of continuation of the measure. It held that the lower court had implicitly addressed this point and that the appellant had had the opportunity to challenge the contested decision in a…