Lexploria

THIRD SECTION

CASE OF PULUDI AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

(Applications nos. 43655/21 and 19 others â€“

see appended list)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

8 February 2024

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

In the case of Puludi and Others v. Russia,

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

Peeter Roosma , President , Ioannis Ktistakis, Andreas ZÃ¼nd , judges ,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 18 January 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 (â€œthe Conventionâ€) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.

2. The Russian Government (â€œthe Governmentâ€) 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

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

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, Â§Â§ 68 â€‘ 73, 17 January 2023).

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 KudreviÄius 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 â€‘ 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 applicantsâ€™ freedom of assembly were not â€œnecessary in a democratic societyâ€.

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

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 Â§ 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, Â§Â§ 63-65, 13 February 2018, Tsvetkova and Others v. Russia , nos. 54381/08 and 5 others, Â§Â§ 115-31, 10 April 2018, and Korneyeva v. Russia , no. 72051/17, Â§Â§ 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, Â§Â§ 58-85, 20 September 2016, concerning the absence of a prosecuting party in the proceedings under the Code of Administrative Offences (the CAO); Martynyuk v. Russia , no. 13764/15, Â§Â§ 38-42, 8 October 2019, relating to the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal against the sentence of administrative detention; and Sergey Zolotukhin v. Russia [GC], no. 14939/03, Â§Â§ 78-84, ECHR 2009 and A and B v. Norway [GC], nos. 24130/11 and 29758/11, Â§Â§ 117-34, 15 November 2016 and Korneyeva , cited above, Â§Â§ 62-65 as to the right of the organisers or participants of public assemblies not to be tried and punished twice for the same offence.

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

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

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,

(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 February 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 Â§Â§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

Viktoriya Maradudina Peeter Roosma

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

Applicantâ€™s name

Year of birth

Representativeâ€™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 â€‘ pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant

(in euros) [1]

43655/21

07/08/2021

Yelena Sergeyevna PULUDI

2000

Rally â€œFree Navalnyyâ€

Kazan

31/01/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

Fine of RUB 10,000

Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan

24/03/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report between 31/01/2021 and 01/02/2021.

4,000

43682/21

09/08/2021

Andrey Vitalyevich KLIMENKO

1990

Pomazuyev Aleksandr Yevgenyevich

Vilnius

Rally â€œFree Navalnyyâ€

Penza

23/01/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

Fine of RUB 20,000

Penza Regional Court

04/03/2021

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

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

4,000

43690/21

06/08/2021

Mikhail Mikhaylovich PRUSAKOV

1996

Nazarov Ilya Yulyevich

Moscow

Rally â€œFree Navalnyyâ€

Moscow

02/02/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 6.1 of CAO

detention for 7 days

Moscow City Court

08/02/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 11.46 p.m. on 02/02/2021 until 5.00 p.m. on 03/02/2021,

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

43739/21

23/08/2021

Ilshat Rinatovich ZARIPOV

2001

Pomazuyev Aleksandr Yevgenyevich

Vilnius

Rally â€œFree Navalnyyâ€

Kazan

31/01/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

Fine of RUB 10,000

Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan

03/03/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.50 p.m. on 31/01/2021 until 01/02/2021 (unspecified hour).

4,000

46689/21

31/08/2021

Mark Yulianovich SELITSKIY

1999

Opposition rally

Rostov-on-Don

31/01/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 6.1 of CAO

Fine of RUB 10,000

Rostov Regional Court

02/03/2021

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

3,500

47119/21

04/09/2021

Mariya Yevgenyevna NUYKINA

1999

Misakyan Tumas Arsenovich

Moscow

Rally to support Sergey Furgal

Khabarovsk

26/12/2020

article 20.2 Â§ 6.1 of CAO

detention for 1 day

Khabarovsk Regional Court

12/03/2021

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

5,000

46068/22

08/09/2022

Sergey Aleksandrovich FALALEYEV

1971

Yermilova Natalya Pavlovna

Yekaterinburg

Protest against war in Ukraine

Yekaterinburg

06/03/2022

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

Fine of RUB 20,000

Sverdlovsk Regional Court

13/07/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.00 p.m. until 8.00 p.m. on 06/03/2022,

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

4,000

46237/22

11/09/2022

Bulat Konstantinovich NIZAMIYEV

1994

Sabirov Rim Faridovich

Kazan

Protest against war in Ukraine

Kazan

02/03/2022

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

Fine of RUB 10,000

Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan

11/05/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.30 p.m. on 02/03/2022 until 03/03/2021.

4,000

47613/22

17/09/2022

Viktor Vladimirovich KUCHERYAVYY

1951

Gak Irina Vladimirovna

Rostov-on-Don

Protest against war in Ukraine

Taganrog

05/03/2022

article 20.2 Â§ 2 of CAO

Fine of RUB 25,000

Rostov Regional Court

17/05/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 8.00 a.m. until 7.30 p.m. on 06/03/2022;

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. 4 - right not to be tried or punished twice in criminal proceedings - overlap of the facts constituting the basis for the applicantâ€™s prosecution in the second set of proceedings (Art. 20.2 Â§ 2 of CAO) with substantially the same facts underlying his conviction in the first set of proceedings (Art. 20.3.3 Â§1 of CAO).

4,000

47986/22

19/09/2022

Yelena Aleksandrovna KOROSTELEVA

1994

Shchukin Andrey Yevgenyevich

Nizhniy Tagil

Protest against war in Ukraine

Yekaterinburg

02/03/2022

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

20 hours of community work

Sverdlovsk Regional Court

28/07/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.40 p.m. until 11.40 p.m. on 02/03/2022,

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

4,000

48305/22

03/10/2022

Mariya Gennadyevna NIKOLAYEVA

1985

Protest against war in Ukraine

Moscow

24/02/2022

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

Fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

03/08/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.15 p.m. on 24/02/2022 until 12.40 a.m. on 25/02/2022,

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

4,000

48323/22

16/09/2022

Galina Aleksandrovna SAKHAREVICH

1992

Malinina Yuliya Valeryevna

Moscow

Protest against war in Ukraine

Moscow

26/02/2022

article 20.6.1 Â§1 of CAO

Fine of RUB 30,000

Moscow City Court

07/06/2022

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

3,500

48346/22

16/09/2022

Olga Lvovna GORELIK

1981

Yelanchik Oleg Aleksandrovich

Moscow

Protest against war in Ukraine

Moscow

06/03/2022

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

Fine of RUB 20,000

Moscow City Court

15/08/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.00 p.m. until 8.00 p.m. on 06/03/2022,

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

4,000

50568/22

07/10/2022

Anzhelika Sergeyevna KAZANTSEVA

1999

Protest against war in Ukraine

Perm

24/02/2022

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

Fine of RUB 10,000

Perm Regional Court

07/06/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.15 p.m. until 11.00 p.m. on 24/02/2022,

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

4,000

50874/22

28/09/2022

Marina Dmitriyevna POPOVA

1993

Baranova Natalya Andreyevna

Moscow

Protest against war in Ukraine

St Petersburg

28/02/2022

article 20.2 Â§ 2 of CAO

Fine of RUB 10,000

St Petersburg City Court

31/05/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 8.30 p.m. on 28/02/2022 until 2.30 a.m. on 01/03/2022

4,000

11254/23

18/02/2023

Andi Nikolayevich ARIPOV

2003

Protest against war in Ukraine

Moscow

06/03/2022

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

Fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

19/10/2022

3,500

12065/23

02/03/2023

Diana Olegovna KOROBEYNIKOVA

1996

Aksenova Darya Dmitriyevna

Kolomna

Protest against war in Ukraine

Moscow

06/03/2022

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

Fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

03/11/2022

3,500

13077/23

08/03/2023

Polina Andreyevna BIRYUKOVA

2000

Protest against war in Ukraine

Moscow

24/02/2022

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

Fine of RUB 15,000

Moscow City Court

09/11/2022

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - Escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 7.30 p.m. on 24/02/2022 until 1.00 a.m. on 25/02/2022

4,000

14342/23

03/03/2023

Konstantin Yevgenyevich FROLOV

1997

Nemanov Vladimir Sergeyevich

Moscow

Protest against war in Ukraine

Moscow

27/03/2022

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

Fine of RUB 10,000

Moscow City Court

13/07/2022

(The administrative case was returned to the first-instance court (the Gagarinskiy District Court in Moscow) and was available in its registry on 3 November 2022 (the applicant submits a copy of the electronic tracking system available on the District Courtâ€™s Internet site). The applicant alleges that the appeal decision has never been sent to him and that he could obtain a copy of it only in December 2022, after the case file was returned from the appeal court to the first-instance court.)

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 01/04/2022 and lack of administrative detention record,

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

4,000

16917/23

07/08/2021

Aleksandr Sergeyevich PULUDI

1987

Rally â€œFree Navalnyyâ€

Kazan

31/01/2021

article 20.2 Â§ 5 of CAO

Fine of RUB 10,000

Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan

24/03/2021

Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report between 31/01/2021 and 01/02/2021.

4,000

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

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CASE OF PULUDI AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

CASE OF PULUDI AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA

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