FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no . 3418/09 Valeriya Borisovna MOISEYEVA and Tatyana Fedorovna NOVIKOVA against Russia

The European Court of Human Rights ( First Section ), sitting on 7 October 2014 as a Committee composed of:

Khanlar Hajiyev , President, Julia Laffranque , Erik Møse , judges , and Søren Prebensen , Acting Deputy Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 30 November 2008 ,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The applicants, Ms Valeriya Borisovna Moiseyeva and Ms Tatyana Fedorovna Novikova , are Russian nationals, who were born in 1959 and 1946 respectively and live in Kraskovo , the Moscow Region, Russia . They were represented before the Court by Mr B.N. Dudyshkin , a lawyer from Malakhovka , the Moscow Region .

The Russian Government (“the Government”) are represented by Mr G. Matyushkin , Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights.

The applicant s complained under Article 10 of the Convention of an alleged violation of the ir right to freedom of expression as they had been found liable for the publication of an article which criticised the leadership of the local administration for allegedly violating environmental regulations.

The applicant s ’ above complaints were communicated to the Government, who submitted their observations on the admissibility and merits. The observations were forwarded to the applicant s , who were invited to submit their own observations. No reply was received to the Registry ’ s letter.

By letter dated 19 March 2014 , sent by registered post, the applicant s were notified that the period allowed for submission of the ir observations had expired on 22 December 2013 and that no extension of time had been requested. The applicants ’ attention was drawn to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, which provides that the Court may strike a case out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that the applicant does not intend to pursue the application. The applicant s received this letter on 1 1 April 2014. However, no response has been received from them .

THE LAW

The Court considers that, in these circumstances, the applicant s may be regarded as no longer wishing to pursue their application, within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 in fine , the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which require the continued examination of the case.

In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.

Søren Prebensen Khanlar Hajiyev              Acting Deputy Registrar President