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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> PUKHOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA - 59975/13 (Judgment : Article 11 - Freedom of assembly and association : Fifth Section Committee) [2023] ECHR 461 (08 June 2023)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2023/461.html
Cite as: ECLI:CE:ECHR:2023:0608JUD005997513, [2023] ECHR 461, CE:ECHR:2023:0608JUD005997513

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FIFTH SECTION

CASE OF PUKHOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 59975/13 and 25 others –

see appended list)

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

 

 

STRASBOURG

8 June 2023

This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.


In the case of Pukhov and Others v. Russia,


The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:

          María Elósegui, President,
          Mattias Guyomar,
          Kateřina Šimáčková, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,


Having deliberated in private on 17 May 2023,


Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:

PROCEDURE


1.  The case originated in applications against Russia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.


2.  The Russian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.

THE FACTS


3.  The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.


4.  The applicants complained of the disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies. Some applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.

THE LAW

I.        JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS


5.  Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.

II.     JURISDICTION


6.  The Court observes that the facts giving rise to the alleged violations of the Convention occurred prior to 16 September 2022, the date on which the Russian Federation ceased to be a party to the Convention. The Court therefore decides that it has jurisdiction to examine the present applications (see Fedotova and Others v. Russia [GC], nos. 40792/10 and 2 others, §§ 68‑73, 17 January 2023).

III.   ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 11 OF THE CONVENTION


7.  The applicants complained principally of disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies, namely their arrest in relation to the dispersal of these assemblies and their conviction for administrative offences. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 11 of the Convention.


8.  The Court refers to the principles established in its case-law regarding freedom of assembly (see Kudrevičius and Others v. Lithuania [GC], no. 37553/05, ECHR 2015, with further references) and proportionality of interference with it (see Oya Ataman v. Turkey, no. 74552/01, ECHR 2006‑XIV, and Hyde Park and Others v. Moldova, no. 33482/06, 31 March 2009).


9.  In the leading cases of Frumkin v. Russia, no. 74568/12, ECHR 2016 (extracts), Navalnyy and Yashin v. Russia, no. 76204/11, 4 December 2014 and Kasparov and Others v. Russia, no. 21613/07, 3 October 2013, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.


10.  Having examined all the material submitted to it, and having taken into account the issue of compliance with the six-month time-limit under Article 35 § 1 of the Convention (see Saakashvili v. Georgia (dec.), nos. 6232/20 and 22394/20, §§ 46-59, 1 March 2022, in which the Court addressed the COVID-related extension of the period in question), the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion as to the admissibility and merits of these complaints. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the interferences with the applicants’ freedom of assembly were not “necessary in a democratic society”.


11.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention.

IV.  OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW


12.  Some applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention and its Protocols, given the relevant well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table). These complaints are not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention, nor are they inadmissible on any other ground. Accordingly, they must be declared admissible.


13.  Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that these complaints also disclose violations of the Convention and its Protocols in the light of its findings in Butkevich v. Russia, no. 5865/07, §§ 63-65, 13 February 2018, Tsvetkova and Others v. Russia, nos. 54381/08 and 5 others, §§ 115-31, 10 April 2018, and Korneyeva v. Russia, no. 72051/17, §§ 34-36, 8 October 2019, as to various aspects of unlawful deprivation of liberty of organisers or participants of public assemblies; Karelin v. Russia, no. 926/08, §§ 58-85, 20 September 2016, concerning the absence of a prosecuting party in the proceedings under the Code of Administrative Offences; and Tsvetkova and Others, cited above, §§ 186-88, and Martynyuk v. Russia, no. 13764/15, §§ 38-42, 8 October 2019, relating to the lack of suspensive effect on an appeal against the sentence of detention.

V.     REMAINING COMPLAINTS


14.  Some applicants raised further additional complaints under Articles 5 and 6 of the Convention concerning other aspects of their deprivation of liberty and fairness of the administrative-offence proceedings. In view of the findings in paragraphs 11-13 above, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with these remaining complaints.


15.  The Court has further examined the remainder of the complaints raised by the applicants in applications nos. 39315/18 and 42500/18 and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, these complaints either do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto. It follows that this part of the applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.

VI.  APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION


16.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Navalnyy and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 25809/17 and 14 others, § 22, 4 October 2022), the Court finds it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,

1.      Decides to join the applications;

2.      Holds that it has jurisdiction to deal with the applicants’ complaints as they relate to facts that took place before 16 September 2022;

3.      Declares the complaints under Article 11 of the Convention and the other complaints under the well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, finds that there is no need to examine separately the remaining complaints under Articles 5 and 6 of the Convention, and declares the remainder of applications nos. 39315/18 and 42500/18 inadmissible;

4.      Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention;

5.      Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention and the Protocols thereto as regards the other complaints raised under the well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table);

6.      Holds

(a)  that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement;

(b)  that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.

Done in English, and notified in writing on 8 June 2023, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

                       

      Viktoriya Maradudina                                              María Elósegui
    Acting Deputy Registrar                                                President


APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Article 11 of the Convention

(disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies)

 

No.

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

 

Representative’s name and location

Name of

the public event

Location

Date

Administrative charges

Penalty

Final domestic decision

Court Name

Date

Other complaints under well‑established case-law

Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant

(in euros)[1]

 

59975/13

12/09/2013

Stanislav Sergeyevich PUKHOV

1985  

Davidyan
Eleonora Grantovna

Moscow

Rally against the conviction of the Pussy Riot group members

Moscow

17/08/2012

Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO

fine of RUB 20,000

Khamovnicheskiy District Court of Moscow

12/03/2013

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings

3,500

 

3930/17

30/12/2016

Valeriy
Yuryevich NADEZHDIN

1968  

Zboroshenko
Nikolay Sergeyevich

Mytishchi

March for Change

Moscow

12/12/2015

Article 19.3 § 1 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

08/07/2016

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty - arrest, escorting to a police station and detention on 12/12/2015 for the sole purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence,

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings

4,000

 

16608/18

22/03/2018

Dmitriy Viktorovich TOLMACHEV

1970  

Ivanets
Vyacheslav Sergeyevich

Tbilisi, Georgia

Event to inform voters about A. Navalnyy’s activity

 

Irkutsk

04/11/2017

Article 20.2 § 2 of CAO

administrative arrest of 5 days

Irkutsk Regional Court

22/11/2017

 

5,000

 

21537/18

30/04/2018

Aleksandr Vyacheslavovich TITOV

1977  

Tiunov
Sergey Yuryevich

Yekaterinburg

Rally to support A. Navalnyy

Yekaterinburg

07/10/2017

Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Sverdlovsk Regional Court

05/12/2017

 

3,500

 

27432/18

18/05/2018

Rafail
Viktorovich SHEPELEV

1970  

Tiunov
Sergey Yuryevich

Yekaterinburg

Rally to support A.Navalnyy

Yekaterinburg

07/10/2017

Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

33 hours of compulsory work

Sverdlovsk Regional Court

12/12/2017

 

3,500

 

31917/18

21/06/2018

Olga
Alekseyevna ZENINA

1952  

Zhdanov
Ivan Yuryevich

Vilnius

Rally to support A. Navalnyy

Rostov-on-Don

07/10/2017

 

Rally to support A. Navalnyy

Rostov-on-Don

24/12/2017

Article 20.2 § 6.1 of the CAO

 

 

Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

 

 

 

fine of RUB 10,000

Rostov Regional Court

21/12/2017

 

 

Rostov Regional Court

20/03/2018

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings - both sets of the CAO proceedings

3,500

 

39315/18

07/08/2018

Vladimir Sergeyevich NEMANOV

1996  

Terekhov
Konstantin Ilyich

Moscow

"Voters’ strike" rally

Kaliningrad

28/01/2018

Article 20.2 § 8 of CAO

administrative detention of 10 days

Kaliningrad Regional Court

12/02/2018

Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant by the court of first instance was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO

5,000

 

42500/18

30/08/2018

 

and

19787/19

01/04/2019

Tatyana Viktorovna SPORYSHEVA

1976  

42500/18

Zhdanov
Ivan Yuryevich

Vilnius

 

19787/19

Pomazuyev
Aleksandr Yevgenyevich

Vilnius

Rally to support A. Navalnyy

Rostov-on-Don

24/12/2017

 

Rally against the pension reform

Rostov-on-Don

09/09/2018

Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO

 

 

 

Article 20.2 § 8 of CAO

 

fine of RUB 15,000

 

 

 

administrative detention of 1 day

 

Rostov Regional Court

07/03/2018

 

 

Rostov Regional Court

09/10/2018

 

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty - arrest, escorting to a police station, detention between 09/09/2018 and 10/09/2018 as administrative suspect,

 

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings - both sets of the CAO proceedings

 

4,000

 

47782/18

21/09/2018

Irina Aleksandrovna NEVEROVA

1989  

Pershakova
Yelena Yuryevna

Moscow

Manifestation to support Mr Navalny’s campaign

Perm

07/10/2017

Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Perm Regional Court

21/03/2018

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings

3,500

 

49185/18

10/10/2018

Artem
Valeryevich VAZHENKOV

1981  

Zhdanov
Ivan Yuryevich

Vilnius

Rally in support of A. Navalnyy

Tver

07/07/2017

 

Political
manifestation

Tver

05/05/2018

 

Manifestation for fair elections to Mosgorduma

Moscow

27/07/2019

Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

 

 

 

Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO

 

 

 

Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

 

 

 

administrative detention of 5 days

 

 

fine of RUB 10,000

Tver Regional Court

17/05/2018

 

 

Tver Regional Court

17/05/2018

 

 

Moscow City Court

24/09/2019

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings - all sets of administrative-offence proceedings,

 

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty - arrest, escorting to a police station, detention (i) between 00.30 a.m. on 06/05/2018 and 2.40 p.m. on 07/05/2018 as administrative suspect; and (ii) between 27/07/2019 and 29/07/2019 as administrative suspect, for "drawing up the administrative offence record" (such record compiled on 28/07/2019).

5,000

 

52537/18

24/10/2018

Sergey
Sergeyevich TSUKASOV

1968  

Sholokhov
Igor Nikolayevich

Kazan

Mother’s Day in Ostankino

Moscow

11/03/2018

Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 20,000

Moscow City Court

06/06/2018

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of tribunal - absence of the prosecuting party in the administrative proceedings

3,500

 

10407/19

09/02/2019

Ruslan
Adamovich MUTSOLGOV

1977  

Sabinin
Andrey Vasilyevich

Stavropol

Rally against transfer of a part of the territory of the Republic of Ingushetia to the Chechen Republic

Magas

26/09/2018

Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Supreme Court of the Republic of Ingushetia

06/11/2018

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings

3,500

 

18178/19

26/03/2019

Aleksandra Vladimirovna SEMENOVA

1979  

Pershakova
Yelena Yuryevna

Moscow

Opposition manifestation "He is not our Tsar"

Perm

05/05/2018

Article 20.2 § 8 of CAO

fine of RUB 150,000

Perm Regional Court

26/09/2018

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings

 

5,500

 

21750/19

03/04/2019

Igor
Vladimirovich PUSHKAR

1962  

Sholokhov
Igor Nikolayevich

Kazan

Rally against the pension reform

Omsk

09/09/2018

Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Omsk Regional Court

15/01/2019

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty‑ arrest, escorting to a police station, detention on 09/09/2018 for the sole purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence,

 

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings

4,000

 

23746/19

15/04/2019

Vladimir Anatolyevich PEREKOTIY

1962  

Vasin
Vladimir Valeryevich

Krasnoyarsk

Opposition rally

Krasnoyarsk

05/05/2018

 

Rally against the pension reform

Krasnoyarsk

09/09/2018

 

 

Rally in support of A. Navalnyy

Krasnoyarsk

23/01/2021

 

Rally in support of A. Navalnyy

Krasnoyarsk

31/01/2021

Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

 

 

Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

 

 

 

 

Article 20.2 § 8 of CAO

 

 

 

Article 20.2 § 8 of CAO

30 hours of community work

 

 

fine of RUB 10,000

 

 

 

 

100 hours of community work

 

 

fine of RUB 150,000

Krasnoyarsk Regional Court

25/10/2018

 

Krasnoyarsk Regional Court

28/03/2019

 

 

 

Krasnoyarsk Regional Court

01/04/2021

 

 

Krasnoyarsk Regional Court

01/04/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty– (i) arrest, escorting to a police station, detention on 05/05/2018 for the sole purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence; (ii) arrest and detention between 31/01/2021 and 02/02/2021 as administrative suspect, for compiling the administrative offence record in respect of the events of 23/01/2021 (drawn up on 02/02/2021), pending the examination of the case by the first-instance court;

 

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings - all sets of the CAO proceedings

5,500

 

25576/19

29/04/2019

Yevgeniy Valikhanovich MUSIN

1980  

Peredruk
Aleksandr Dmitriyevich

St Petersburg

Rally against abusive criminal prosecution

St Petersburg

28/10/2018

Article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO

fine of RUB 20,000

St Petersburg City Court

10/01/2019

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty - arrest, escorting to a police station, detention between 28/10/2018 and 29/10/2018 as administrative suspect,

 

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings

4,000

 

40242/19

17/07/2019

Vladimir Yuryevich SHIPITSYN

1969  

Mezak
Ernest Aleksandrovich

Saint-Barthélemy d’Anjou

Rally against abusive criminal prosecution

St Petersburg

28/10/2018

Article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO

fine of RUB 15,000

St Petersburg City Court

17/01/2019

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty - arrest, escorting to a police station, detention between 28/10/2018 and 29/10/2018 as administrative suspect "for a correct and timely determination of the case",

 

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings

4,000

 

63403/19

28/11/2019

Anzhela Khusenovna MATIYEVA

1971  

Sabinin
Andrey Vasilyevich

Stavropol

Rally concerning the regional statute on referenda

Magas

06/10/2018

Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Supreme Court of the Ingushetia Republic

11/07/2019

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings

3,500

 

1720/20

18/12/2019

Vadim Miroslavovich YASKIV

1989  

Memorial Human Rights Centre

Moscow

Manifestation for fair elections to Mosgorduma

Moscow

03/08/2019

Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 20,000

Moscow City Court

28/08/2019

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty - arrest, escorting to a police station and detention on 03/08/2019 for the sole purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence,

 

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings

4,000

 

3878/20

20/12/2019

Sergey Dmitriyevich SOLOVYEV

1999  

Yatsenko
Irina Aleksandrovna

Moscow

Opposition manifestation

Moscow

05/05/2018

 

Manifestation for fair elections to Mosgorduma

Moscow

27/07/2019

Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

 

 

 

Article 20.2 § 8 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

 

 

 

fine of RUB 200,000

 

Moscow City Court

20/06/2019

 

 

Moscow City Court

30/09/2019

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty - arrest, escorting to a police station and detention (i) on 05/05/2018, for the sole purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence; delayed escorting to a police station; and (ii) on 27/07/2019 for the same purpose (administrative‑offence record drawn up on 30/07/2019 only),

 

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings - both sets of administrative proceedings

4,000

 

6350/20

17/01/2020

Dmitriy Sergeyevich KNYAZEV

1983  

Memorial Human Rights Centre

Moscow

Manifestation in support of I. Golunov

Moscow

12/06/2019

Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

02/08/2019

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings

3,500

 

9088/20

03/02/2020

Marina Aleksandrovna LUKYANETS

1976  

Zboroshenko
Nikolay Sergeyevich

Mytishchi

Manifestation for fair elections to Mosgorduma

Moscow

14/07/2019

Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 15,000

Moscow City Court

06/09/2019

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty -- arrest, escorting to a police station, detention on 14/07/2019 for the sole purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence,

 

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings

4,000

 

15309/20

29/02/2020

Roman
Igorevich MAKSIMOV

1995  

Peredruk
Aleksandr Dmitriyevich

St Petersburg

Event for fair elections

St Petersburg

29/06/2019

Article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO

fine of RUB 20,000

St Petersburg City Court

12/09/2019

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty - arrest and detention between 6.20 p.m. on 29/06/2019 and 1.20 a.m. on 30/06/2019 for the sole purpose of drawing up a record of administrative offence; no record of administrative arrest compiled,

 

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative‑offence proceedings

4,000

 

17354/20

14/03/2020

Darya Aleksandrovna BELYAYEVA

1991  

Kachanov
Roman Yevgenyevich

Yekaterinburg

Rally against a church construction

 

Yekaterinburg

04/06/2019

Article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Sverdlovsk Regional Court

18/09/2019

 

3,500

 

17906/20

30/03/2020

Nikolay
Igorevich NIKIFOROV

1995  

Pomazuyev
Aleksandr Yevgenyevich

Vilnius

Rally against the pension reform

St Petersburg

09/09/2018

Article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

St Petersburg City Court

14/11/2019

 

3,500

 



[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.


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