TERESHONKOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA - 64899/14 (Article 11 - Freedom of assembly and association : First Section Committee) [2024] ECHR 628 (04 July 2024)

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Cite as: [2024] ECHR 628

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FIRST SECTION

CASE OF TERESHONKOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 64899/14 and 24 others -

see appended list)

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT
 

STRASBOURG

4 July 2024

 

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


In the case of Tereshonkov and Others v. Russia,

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

 Lətif Hüseynov, President,
 Ivana Jelić,
 Erik Wennerström, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 13 June 2024,

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

  1. 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.

  1. 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).

  1. 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, 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.

  1. 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 (the CAO); Glukhin v. Russia, no. 11519/20, §§ 64-91, 4 July 2023, concerning unjustified processing of the applicant's personal biometric data by using highly intrusive facial recognition technology in the proceedings under the CAO, in order to identify, locate and arrest the applicant; Novikova and Others v. Russia, nos. 25501/07 and 4 others, §§ 106-225, 26 April 2016, relating to disproportionate measures taken by the authorities against participants of solo demonstrations; and Martynyuk v. Russia, no. 13764/15, §§ 38-42, 8 October 2019, relating to the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal against the sentence of administrative detention.

  1. REMAINING COMPLAINTS


14.  Some applicants raised further additional complaints under Article 6 of the Convention concerning other aspects of fairness of the administrative-offence proceedings. In view of the findings in paragraphs 10 and 13 above, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with these remaining complaints.


15.  The Court has further examined the rest of the complaints raised by the applicants 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.


16.  It follows that this part of the applications must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.

  1. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION


17.  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 these applications 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 Article 6 of the Convention, and declares the remainder of the applications inadmissible;
  4. Holds that these applications 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 4 July 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

 

 Viktoriya Maradudina Lətif Hüseynov
 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 / criminal offence

Penalty

Final domestic decision

Court Name

Date

Other complaints under well-established case-law

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

(in euros)[1]

  1.    

64899/14

18/09/2014;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

50264/17

28/06/2017

 

Semen Alekseyevich TERESHONKOV

1982

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mezak Ernest Aleksandrovich

Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou

 

 

 

 

 

Laptev Aleksey Nikolayevich

Moscow

Protest against "annexation of Crimea"

 

Syktyvkar

 

16/03/2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

fine of RUB 10,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supreme Court of the Komi Republic

14/05/2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - On 19/12/2016 the Syktyvkar Town Court found him guilty under Art. 19.3 § 1 of CAO for failure to obey the lawful order of police officers and sentenced to 3-day' detention. On 28/12/2016 the Supreme Court of the Komi Republic upheld the judgment. The sentence of administrative detention for three days imposed on the applicant on 19/12/2016 under Article 19.3 § 1 of CAO was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO (final decision taken by the Supreme Court of the Komi Republic on 28/12/2016).

5,000

 

 

  1.    

10450/21

18/01/2021

Yuriy Aleksandrovich BOLSHOV

1996

Zubarev Dmitriy Vladimirovich

Vladivostok

Rally to support S. Furgal

 

Khabarovsk

 

25/07/2020

article 20.2 § 2 of CAO

detention for 7 days

Primorye Regional Court

30/07/2020

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report on 26/07/2020;

 

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

 

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

5,000

  1.    

20410/21

16/03/2021

Natalya Petrovna BARANOVA

1959

Glukhov Aleksey Vladimirovich

Novocheboksarsk

Political rally

 

Samara

 

21/06/2020

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Samara Regional Court

17/09/2020

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

3,500

  1.    

36425/21

30/06/2021;

 

 

 

and

 

 

54560/21

15/10/2021

Sven Karlovich NORDIN

1983

Memorial Human Rights Centre

Moscow

 

 

 

 

 

Memorial Human Rights Centre

Moscow

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

 

Kaliningrad

 

31/01/2021

 

 

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

 

Kaliningrad

 

21/04/2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

 

 

 

 

 

 

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

fine of

RUB 10,000

Kaliningrad Regional Court

25/05/2021

 

 

 

 

Kaliningrad Regional Court

22/06/2021

 

 

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report on 31/01/2021 and 21/04/2021;

 

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings which ended with the final decision taken on 25/05/2021.

4,000

  1.    

40155/21

21/07/2021

Pavel Vasilyevich KOROLKOV

1998

Solovyev Leonid Alekseyevich

Moscow

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

 

Moscow

 

31/01/2021

 

 

Protest against war in Ukraine

 

Moscow

 

06/03/2022

article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO

 

 

 

 

 

 

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

detention for 10 days

 

 

 

 

 

 

fine of RUB 20,000

Moscow City Court

12/04/2021

 

 

 

 

 

Moscow City Court

15/11/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report (1) from 4.10 p.m. on 31/01/2021 until 01/02/2021, when the applicant was taken to the court; (2) from 06/03/2022 until 07/03/2022;

 

Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings which ended with the final decision taken on 12/04/2021;

 

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

5,000

  1.    

40472/21

04/07/2021

Nikita Vitalyevich YAKOVLEV

1997

Aksenova Darya Dmitriyevna

Kolomna

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

 

Moscow

 

23/01/2021

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

10/03/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report on 23/01/2021;

 

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

4,000

  1.    

43784/21

26/08/2021

Maksim Dmitriyevich STENKIN

1991

Memorial Human Rights Centre

Moscow

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

 

Moscow

 

31/01/2021

 

 

 

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

 

Moscow

 

21/04/2021

 

 

Protest against war in Ukraine

 

Moscow

 

04/03/2022

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

 

 

 

 

 

 

article 20.2 § 8 of CAO

 

fine of RUB 20,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

fine of RUB 10,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

detention for 15 days

Moscow City Court

11/05/2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moscow City Court

27/10/2021

 

 

 

 

 

Moscow City Court

11/03/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - (1) escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.23 p.m. on 31/01/2021 until 1.30 a.m. on 01/02/2021;

(2) escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report on 21/04/2021;

(3) escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 7 p.m. on 04/03/2022 until 05/03/2022, when the applicant was taken to the court from the police station;

 

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

 

Art. 8 (1) - restrictions on the right to private life of participants of public assemblies - use of facial recognition technology for the identification of the applicant as a participant in the rally on 21/04/2021 and his subsequent conviction.

5,000

  1.    

44321/21

09/08/2021

Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich YELISEYEV

1971

Memorial Human Rights Centre

Moscow

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

 

Moscow

 

31/01/2021

 

 

Protest against war in Ukraine

 

Moscow

 

06/03/2022

article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO

 

 

 

 

 

 

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

detention for 15 days

 

 

 

 

 

 

fine of RUB 15,000

Moscow City Court

09/02/2021

 

 

 

 

 

Moscow City Court

09/09/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - (1) escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 1.45 p.m. on 31/01/2021 to 6 p.m. on 01/02/2021; (2) escorting to the police station on 06/03/2022 for compiling an offence report;

 

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

 

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

5,000

  1.    

47430/21

12/09/2021

Andrey Sergeyevich SKRIPNIK

1996

Yatsenko Irina Aleksandrovna

Moscow

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

 

Moscow

 

31/01/2021

article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO

fine of RUB 15,000

Moscow City Court

12/03/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 3 p.m. on 31/01/2021 until 6.30 p.m. on 01/02/2021;

 

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

4,000

  1.  

47449/21

08/09/2021

Aleksandr Nikolayevich RYABCHUK

1989

Pryanishnikov Aleksey Aleksandrovich

Tomsk

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

 

Rostov-on-Don

 

23/01/2021

article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO

detention for 5 days

Rostov Regional Court

10/03/2021

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

5,000

  1.  

48963/21

22/09/2021

Veronika Yuryevna NIKULSHINA

1997

Gilmanov Mansur Idrisovich

Podolsk

Rally in support of LGBTI community

 

Moscow

 

07/10/2020

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

29/06/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report on 08/10/2020;

 

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

4,000

  1.  

49349/21

22/09/2021

Aleksey Olegovich VASILYEV

2003

Memorial Human Rights Centre

Moscow

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

 

Omsk

 

31/01/2021

 

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 15,000

Omsk Regional Court

06/04/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 2.20 p.m. until 7.50 p.m. on 31/01/2021;

 

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

4,000

  1.  

56282/21

25/10/2021

Konstantin Viktorovich KISELEV

1963

Zboroshenko Nikolay Sergeyevich

Mytishchi

Opposition rally

 

Moscow

 

13/03/2021

article 20.33 of CAO

fine of RUB 15,000

Izmaylovskiy District Court of Moscow

06/07/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 10.30 a.m. until 3.30 p.m. on 13/03/2021.

 

 

4,000

  1.  

8359/22

25/01/2022

Yegor Sergeyevich LEVIN

1999

Memorial Human Rights Centre

Moscow

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

 

Barnaul

 

21/04/2021

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Altay Regional Court

11/08/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 8.10 p.m. until 11.30 p.m. on 21/04/2021;

 

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

4,000

  1.  

12127/22

01/02/2022

Yuliya Mikhaylovna DOLZHENKO

1986

Memorial Human Rights Centre

Moscow

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

 

Belgorod

 

21/04/2021

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Belgorod Regional Court

02/08/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 8.30 p.m. on 21/04/2021 until 12.45 a.m. on 22/04/2021;

 

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

4,000

  1.  

13422/22

10/02/2022

Igor Viktorovich SHPEKHT

1984

Vasin Vladimir Valeryevich

Krasnoyarsk

Rally "Free Navalnyy"

 

Krasnoyarsk

 

31/01/2021

 

 

 

 

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Krasnoyarsk Regional Court

12/08/2021

 

3,500

  1.  

41682/22

09/08/2022

Lyubov Sergeyevna SAMYLOVA

1999

Magomedova Luiza Magomedovna

St Petersburg

Protest against war in Ukraine

 

St Petersburg

 

24/02/2022

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 15,000

St Petersburg City Court

19/04/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 8 p.m. on 24/02/2022 until 25/02/2022 when the applicant was taken to the court from the police station;

 

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

4,000

  1.  

10035/23

13/02/2023

Arina Sergeyevna ZEYKAN

1999

 

 

Protest against war in Ukraine

 

Moscow

 

28/02/2022

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

13/10/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.35 p.m. on 28/02/2022 until 4 p.m. on 01/03/2022.

4,000

  1.  

11763/23

20/02/2023

Valentina Petrovna YASHINA

1954

 

 

Protest against war in Ukraine

 

Moscow

 

06/03/2022

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

31/10/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 3.40 p.m. until 7 p.m. on 06/03/2022.

4,000

  1.  

13214/23

17/03/2023

Darya Dmitriyevna TEREKHOVA

2003

 

 

Protest against war in Ukraine

 

Moscow

 

27/02/2022

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 20,000

Moscow City Court

21/11/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 8 p.m. on 27/02/2022 until 7.30 p.m. on 28/02/2022.

4,000

  1.  

31231/23

21/07/2023

Arshak Arturovich MAKICHYAN

1994

 

 

Protest against war in Ukraine

 

Moscow

 

25/02/2022

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 20,000

Moscow City Court

21/03/2023

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 1 p.m.

until 6.30 p.m. on 25/02/2022.

4,000

  1.  

31282/23

06/07/2023

Tamara Petrovna SOLODOVNIKOVA

1958

 

 

Protest against war in Ukraine

 

Moscow

 

06/03/2022

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 15,000

Moscow City Court

13/03/2023

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 3.10 p.m. until 7 p.m. on 06/03/2022.

 

4,000

  1.  

31283/23

24/07/2023

Yekaterina Valentinovna PANKOVA

1991

 

 

Protest against war in Ukraine

 

Moscow

 

06/03/2022

article 20.2 § 5 of CAO

fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

27/03/2023

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.25 p.m. until 8.38 p.m. on 06/03/2022.

4,000

 

 


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


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