Communicated on 1 December 2016

THIRD SECTION

Application no. 25038/14 Aleksey Veniaminovich LITVINOV against Russia lodged on 18 March 2014

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Aleksey Veniaminovich Litvinov, is a Russian national who was born in 1987 and lives in Sakhalin. He is represented before the Court by Mr Ye. Yefimchuk , a lawyer practising in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk .

On 3 June 2011 the applicant was arrested on drug-related charges and placed in custody.

On 28 July and 28 October 2011 and 16 March, 31 May and 18 September 2012 the Sakhalin courts granted extensions of the authorised detention period for a total duration of eighteen months.

On 3 November 2012 the applicant was first granted access to the case file.

On 30 November and 20 December 2012 and 20 March, 18 June, 19 September and 18 December 2013 the Sakhalin Regional Court granted repeated extension of the applicant ’ s detention for the purpose of allowing the investigation to present the case file to the defendants. Each time the court referred to the gravity of the charges, the applicant ’ s history of drug use and the fact that he was single.

In the period from 12 April to 3 September 2013 no access to the case-file was provided.

On 13 January 2014 the Sakhalin Regional Court upheld on appeal the most recent extension order of 18 December 2013. On 14 March 2014 a judge of that court refused the applicant leave to appeal to the cassation instance.

COMPLAINTS

The applicant complains under Article 5 § 1 that the length of his detention exceeded the maximum statutory period.

Questions to the parties

Was the applicant ’ s detention in excess of the maximum statutory domestic time-limit compatible with the requirements of Article 5 § 1 (see Tsarenko v. Russia , no. 5235/09 , §§ 60-61, 3 March 2011)? Did the courts adduce “relevant and sufficient” reasons for continuing his detention, as required by Article 5 § 3?