The applicant, Algerian national, applied for asylum on 25 June 2018, but he withdrew it in the second half of 2018. The District Court of Zurich sentenced A. in 2019 for multiple offences to a 28 months prison sentence of 28 months; he was also expelled from the country for 10 years. Upon release from prison, A. was placed in deportation custody, measure that he contested, along with the fact that a deportation is not foreseeable due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Federal Court ruled that an enforcement of the expulsion to Algeria can no longer be regarded as foreseeable within a reasonable period of time and ordereed also the release from detrention, as it found it contrary to art. 5 ECHR. However, this fact does not rule out the possibility of him being taken back into deportation detention if the pandemic situation in Algeria changes fundamentally. As a milder measure, and as alternative to detention pending removal, the applicant may be required to report to the police.