Week-ending 18 June 2021
This week, on 15 June 2021, the European Court of Human Rights handed down 16 judgments in relation to Russia, finding violations of Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (prohibition on torture), 5 (liberty and security of person), 6 (fair trial), 8 (private and family life), 10 (freedom of expression), 11 (freedom of assembly and association), 13 (effective remedy) and issuing one declaration under Rule 39 (interim measures – concerning deportation).
15 June 2021
A violation of Article 3 of the Convention on account of conditions of the applicant’s hospitalisation in a psychiatric facility and the use of physical restraints; a violation of Article 5 § 4 of the Convention on account of the length of appeal review proceedings concerning extensions of her hospitalisation; the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, the following amounts, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement: (i) EUR 25,600 (twenty-five thousand six hundred euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; (ii) EUR 2,430 (two thousand four hundred and thirty euros) plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses.
Il y a eu violation de l’article 10 de la Convention; l’État défendeur doit verser au requérant, dans un délai de trois mois 4 000 EUR (quatre mille euros), plus tout montant pouvant être dû sur cette somme à titre d’impôt, pour dommage moral, à convertir en roubles russes au taux applicable à la date du règlement.
A violation of Article 8 of the Convention on account of the decision of 2 May 2007; a violation of Article 13 of the Convention taken in conjunction with Article 8 of the Convention on account of the lack of an effective remedy in respect of the decision of 2 May 2007; the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, EUR 2,000 (two thousand euros) in respect of costs and expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant on the above amount, to be paid into the bank account indicated by the applicant’s representative organisation.
Art 3 (procedural) • Ineffective investigation into applicant’s ill-treatment by police officers • Exemption of police officers from criminal liability due to statutory time-limit expiration resulting from protracted investigation and imposition of suspended sentences • Manifest disproportionality between the gravity of the police officers’ acts and punishment imposed • Lack of serious efforts to identify and punish third perpetrator
A violation of Article 3 of the Convention under its procedural limb; the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, the following amounts, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement: (i) EUR 11,000 (eleven thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; (ii) EUR 943 (nine hundred and forty-three euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses.
A violation of Article 2 of the Convention; the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, EUR 10,000 (ten thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non‑pecuniary damage, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement.
A violation of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention; a violation of Article 11 of the Convention; the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, the following amounts, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement: (i) EUR 6,500 (six thousand five hundred euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; (ii) EUR 233 (two hundred and thirty-three euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses.
A violation of Article 10 of the Convention; the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, the following amounts, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement: (i) EUR 25 (twenty-five euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of pecuniary damage; (ii) EUR 7,500 (seven thousand five hundred euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; (iii) EUR 2,460 (two thousand four hundred and sixty euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses, to be paid to the applicant’s representative’s bank account.
A violation of Article 2 of the Convention under its substantive limb in respect of Aslanbek Saidakhmadov; a violation of Article 2 of the Convention under its procedural limb on account of the failure to effectively investigate the disappearance of Aslanbek Saidakhmadov; a violation of Article 3 of the Convention in respect of the applicant on account of her mental suffering caused by her son’s disappearance and the authorities’ response to her suffering; the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, EUR 60,000 (sixty thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage. The amount is to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement.
A violation of Article 3 of the Convention under its substantive and procedural limbs; a violation of Article 6 of the Convention on account of the use in evidence of the applicant’s confession statement of 20 June 2008; the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, EUR 26,000 (twenty-six thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement.
RÎBAC AND RODINA-AGRO S.A. v. THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA AND RUSSIA
A violation of Article 11 of the Convention by the Russian Federation; the Russian Federation is to pay the applicant, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, the following amounts: (i) EUR 42 (forty-two euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of pecuniary damage; (ii) EUR 3,000 (three thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; (iii) EUR 4,000 (four thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses.
Il y a eu violation de l’article 2 de la Convention sous son volet procédural; l’État défendeur doit verser à la requérante, dans un délai de trois mois, 9 300 EUR (neuf mille trois cents euros), plus tout montant pouvant être dû sur cette somme à titre d’impôt, pour dommage moral, à convertir dans la monnaie de l’État défendeur, au taux applicable à la date du règlement.
STOLBUNOV AND MOO SPRAVEDLIVOST v. RUSSIA
A violation of Article 10 of the Convention on account of defamation proceedings which terminated on appeal on 24 June 2013 and 26 August 2013; the respondent State is to pay, within three months, the following amounts, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State, at the rate applicable at the date of settlement: (i) EUR 4,000 (four thousand euros) to each applicant, plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; (ii) EUR 850 (eight hundred and fifty euros) to Mr Stolbunov, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses.
TOTCHI AND OTHERS v. THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA, RUSSIA AND UKRAINE
A violation of Article 2 of the Convention by the Russian Federation; the Russian Federation is to pay the applicants, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, the following amounts: (i) EUR 26,000 (twenty-six thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; (ii) EUR 4,000 (four thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses.
A violation of Article 6 § 2 of the Convention; the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months, EUR 1,500 (one thousand five hundred euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement.
Art 8 • Family life • Domestic court failure genuinely take into account allegations of “grave risk” of harm or exposure to an intolerable situation in returning abducted child under the Hague Convention to a conflict zone in eastern Ukraine • Insufficient reasoning by domestic court falling short of procedural requirements inherent in Art 8
A violation of Article 8 of the Convention; to continue to indicate to the Government under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court that it is desirable in the interests of the proper conduct of the proceedings not to enforce the second applicant’s return to Donetsk, Ukraine, until such time as the present judgment becomes final or until further notice; the finding of a violation constitutes in itself sufficient just satisfaction for the non-pecuniary damage sustained by the applicants; the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, EUR 4,150 (four thousand one hundred and fifty euros), to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants, in respect of costs and expenses, to be paid to the bank account of Mr A.N. Laptev.
A violation of Article 3 of the Convention under its substantive aspect in respect of Mr Zagaynov, Mr Kuznetsov, Mr Yakovlev, Mr Kondratyev, Mr Maltsev (no. 5666/07) and Mr Pulyalin (no. 5264/10) on account of the inhuman and degrading treatment to which they were subjected, and in respect of Mr Gayazov (no. 12892/08), Mr Aleksandrov (no. 21396/11) and Mr Seliverstov (no. 51153/14) on account of the torture to which they were subjected; a violation of Article 3 of the Convention under its procedural aspect in respect of Mr Zagaynov, Mr Kuznetsov, Mr Yakovlev, Mr Kondratyev, Mr Maltsev (no. 5666/07), Mr Gayazov (no. 12892/08), Mr Pulyalin (no. 5264/10), Mr Aleksandrov (no. 21396/11) and Mr Seliverstov (no. 51153/14); the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement.
See also:
RFE/RL, 17 June 2021: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has welcomed a decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to accept, on a priority basis, the legal case that the Moscow bureau of the broadcaster brought to it last month against the Russian government. RFE/RL said in a statement on June 17 that the decision, taken by the Strasbourg-based court a day earlier, has now also been formally communicated to the government of Russia. The ECHR’s decision to grant “priority” status — which it reserves for the most important, serious, and urgent cases — within a month of its filing means that the case will likely proceed more quickly than ordinary cases.
Other news:
RFE/RL, 16 June 2021: During their summit in Geneva on June 16, U.S. President Joe Biden raised the issue of Kremlin pressure against RFE/RL’s Russian-language services in Russia with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The United States has accused Russia of attempting to drive RFE/RL out of the country by listing it as a “foreign agent” media organization and imposing fines against it for failing to comply with requirements that all its materials be prominently labeled. “I also raised the ability of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty to operate and the importance of a free press and freedom of speech,” Biden said at his press conference in Geneva when listing some of the issues the two leaders discussed. The same day, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) agreed to hear an appeal by RFE/RL against the Russian government over the “foreign agent” label and the labelling requirements.
RSF, 16 June 2021: The Moscow-based independent news website VTimes opted to go out of business a month after being added to Russia’s mandatory “foreign agents” register. In the run-up to parliamentary elections, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warns that the draconian “foreign agents” law is steadily killing off the country’s independent media and calls on Vladimir Putin to repeal it at once.
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