5.  The applicant was born in 1977 and lives in Khunzhand, Tajikistan. He is currently residing in Moscow. 6.  The applicant is a practising Muslim. He states that he has not been a member of any political organisations, including Hizb ut-Tahrir (“HT”), an Islamic organisation banned in Russia, Germany and some Central Asian republics, but has nonetheless been persecuted by the Tajikistani authorities on account of presumed membership of that organisation. 7.  By a decision of 22 June 2000 the Ministry of Security of Tajikistan instituted criminal proceedings against the applicant on account of his membership of “the illegal extremist-religious party 'Hizb ut-Tahrir'”. The decision stated that the applicant had committed a number of serious and particularly serious crimes, namely, incitement to overthrow the political regime in Tajikistan and dissemination of material containing incitement to religious hatred. On the same date the Ministry of Security of Tajikistan placed the applicant on a search list, drew up an arrest warrant in his name and suspended the investigation because the applicant's whereabouts were unknown. 8.  The applicant fled to Moscow in 2001. 9.  Between 27 October and 7 December 2001 the applicant was kept in detention in Russia with a view to his extradition. He was subsequently released because no formal request for his extradition was received. 10.  The applicant registered his place of residence in Russia with the relevant authorities. 11.  On 28 November 2007 the applicant was arrested by servicemen of the Moscow Department of the Federal Security Service and police of the Odintsovo District. 12.  In the morning of 30 November 2007 the applicant was questioned in the absence of a lawyer. The servicemen who carried out the interview threatened to use violence against the applicant and his family unless he voluntarily agreed to leave Russia for Tajikistan. According to the applicant, he was not informed of the reasons for his arrest in the course of the interview. Neither did he have access to a lawyer during the two following weeks in detention. 13.  On 30 November 2007 the Odintsovo Town Court of the Moscow Region (“the Town Court”) ordered the applicant's placement in custody pending his extradition. The term of detention was not specified. 14.  Between 30 November 2007 and 30 January 2008 the applicant was kept in a temporary detention facility of the Odintsovo District Department of the Interior. In the meantime his wife was expelled to Tajikistan. 15.  On 21 December 2007 the Prosecutor General of Tajikistan sent a request for the applicant's extradition to the Prosecutor General of Russia and enclosed a copy of the decision of 22 June 2000 to charge the applicant with membership of a proscribed organisation and copies of the search and arrest warrants. 16.  On 4 June 2008 the Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia ordered the applicant's extradition to Tajikistan to face criminal prosecution. The order stated that the applicant had been charged with membership of a proscribed religious-extremist organisation and dissemination of material containing incitement to religious hatred. 17.  The applicant challenged the extradition order of 4 June 2008 in court. 18.  On 22 August 2008 the Moscow City Court upheld the order of 4 June 2008. It reasoned that there were no legal grounds impeding the applicant's extradition to Tajikistan because the applicant was a Tajik national and his request for political asylum had been rejected. The applicant's claims that he was not guilty of the crimes of which he had been charged had been examined and dismissed “on the ground that issues of falsification of charges in his respect by law-enforcement agencies of Tajikistan [were] not subject to examination in the course of [that] court hearing”. It further stated that allegations of persecution on religious grounds had not been confirmed by reliable evidence, and concluded as follows:
“[Mr] Khodzhayev does not have refugee status in the Russian Federation, has not been and is not being persecuted on grounds of his race, religion, citizenship, nationality or association with a particular group [and] has not applied for Russian citizenship or political asylum.” 19.  On 28 October 2008 the Supreme Court of Russia examined an appeal by the applicant against the judgment of 22 August 2008 and dismissed it, reproducing the reasoning of the Moscow City Court verbatim. 20.  On 11 January 2008 the applicant lodged a request for political asylum with the Moscow Department of the Federal Migration Service (“the Moscow FMS”). 21.  On 11 January 2008 the applicant requested protection from the Russian Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (“the UNHCR Office”). It appears that UNHCR Office staff were not allowed to visit the applicant over the following months. 22.  On 16 May 2008 the Moscow FMS refused to grant the applicant political asylum. On an unspecified date the applicant was notified of that decision. 23.  The applicant challenged the Moscow FMS's decision of 16 May 2008 in court. On an unspecified date the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court of Moscow refused to admit the applicant's statement of claim because he had failed to pay the court fee. The applicant appealed. 24.  On 18 November 2008 the Moscow City Court quashed the decision of the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court of Moscow and ordered it to admit the applicant's statement of claim with no court fee. It appears that the proceedings challenging the Moscow FSM's decision are now pending before the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court of Moscow. 25.  On 26 November 2008 UNHCR Office staff interviewed the applicant. 26.  On 22 June 2000 an investigator from the Tajik Ministry of Security, having obtained a prosecutor's approval, issued an arrest warrant in respect of the applicant. 27.  In July 2001 the applicant arrived in Russia illegally looking for well-paid employment. During the following six years the applicant filed no request to register himself as a temporary resident with Russian migration offices. Neither did he lodge a request for asylum. The applicant did not have a migration card. 28.  On 27 October 2001 the applicant was arrested in Moscow pursuant to Article 61 of the Minsk Convention as a person put on an international wanted list. 29.  On 7 December 2001 the applicant was released from custody because no request for his extradition had been received. 30.  On 19 February 2002 the Tajik Prosecutor General's Office requested the Russian Prosecutor General's Office to extradite the applicant. 31.  On 27 February 2002 the Russian police were instructed to search for the applicant. 32.  On 28 November 2007 the applicant was arrested by servicemen of the Federal Security Service and the police. 33.  On the same date the applicant was questioned by an official of the Odintsovo prosecutor's office. The written statement signed by the applicant certified that he was fluent in Russian and did not need an interpreter. The statement reads, in so far as relevant, as follows:
“... I am aware of the fact that my name has been put on a wanted list in Tajikistan. I cannot give any details concerning the criminal case against me in Tajikistan. The investigative documents from Tajikistan that I have been provided with contain my personal data but I did not commit the crimes mentioned in them. I cannot submit more information on the substance of the criminal case against me.
... I am not being persecuted in Tajikistan for political reasons. I am a Tajik national and I have not applied for political asylum or refugee status to any agencies, consulates, embassies or representative offices.” 34.  On 30 November 2007 the Town Court held the hearing and examined the Odintsovo prosecutor's office's request to authorise the applicant's placement in custody pending extradition. The request that mentioned the fact that the applicant had been suspected of serious and particularly serious crimes in Tajikistan was read out in the courtroom. In the document entitled “Decision concerning the choice of custodial detention as a preventive measure” the Town Court observed that the applicant was suspected of creating a criminal organisation, inciting to racial and religious hatred and calling for the overthrow of the Tajik constitutional regime and ordered the applicant's placement in custody pursuant to the Minsk Convention and Article 108 of the CCP. The Town Court reasoned that the applicant was a foreign national, had no permanent employment or place of residence and, unless detained, might abscond, continue his illegal activities or interfere with the course of criminal proceedings. The applicant was advised of his right to appeal against the decision before the Moscow Regional Court within three days. 35.  On 24 December 2007 the Tajik Prosecutor General's Office requested the Russian Prosecutor General's Office to extradite the applicant as a person charged with terrorism-related crimes. 36.  On 28 December 2007 the Town Court ordered the applicant's placement in custody pending extradition pursuant to Articles 108 and 466 of the CCP. The document was entitled “Decision concerning the choice of custodial detention as a preventive measure”. The applicant was advised of his right to appeal against the decision before the Moscow Regional Court within three days. 37.  The applicant did not appeal against the Town Court's decisions of 30 November and 28 December 2007. 38.  On 11 January 2008 the applicant argued for the first time that in Tajikistan he had been persecuted on political grounds in his letters to the UNHCR Office and the Moscow FMS. 39.  On 4 June 2008 the Russian Deputy Prosecutor General granted the Tajik Prosecutor General's Office's request and ordered the applicant's extradition. The applicant was advised of his right to appeal against the order within ten days. 40.  On 28 July 2008 the applicant appealed against the extradition order. 41.  On 5 August 2008 the Moscow FMS received the applicant's request for temporary asylum. 42.  On 22 August 2008 the Moscow City Court dismissed the applicant's appeal against the extradition order. 43.  On 27 August 2008 the applicant appealed against the judgment of 22 August 2008. 44.  On 28 October 2008 the Russian Supreme Court dismissed the applicant's appeal and upheld the judgment of 22 August 2008. On 13 November 2008 the applicant was served with the appeal court's decision. 45.  On 24 January 2008 the Russian Prosecutor General's Office received the applicant's counsel's request to allow UNHCR Office staff to visit the applicant. A request made by the UNHCR Office reached the Russian Prosecutor General's Office only on 23 July 2008. The request did not contain the personal details of the staff in question. As soon as those details had been communicated by the UNHCR Office, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office issued a permit to visit the applicant. 46.  On an unspecified date the UNHCR Office informed the prosecutor's office of the Moscow Region that the applicant was eligible for international protection. 47.  On 26 February 2008 the applicant requested the Moscow FMS to grant him refugee status. 48.  On 20 March 2008 officials of the Moscow FMS visited the applicant in the remand prison and interviewed him. 49.  The applicant was provided with ample opportunities to substantiate his fears of persecution in Tajikistan. He was interviewed by State officials in this respect on several occasions. 50.  On 16 May 2008 the Moscow FMS, having thoroughly studied the applicant's request, dismissed it and refused to declare the applicant a refugee. The applicant appealed against that decision. 51.  On 3 July 2008 the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court of Moscow refused to admit the applicant's appeal against the Moscow FMS's decision of 16 May 2008 and invited the applicant to eliminate the discrepancies in his appeal by 18 July 2008. 52.  On 25 August 2008 the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court of Moscow ruled that the applicant's appeal against the Moscow FMS's decision should not be examined because the applicant had failed to eliminate the discrepancies referred to in the ruling of 3 July 2008. 53.  On 26 November 2008 the applicant's request for temporary asylum was dismissed. 54.  On 18 November 2008 the Moscow City Court quashed the ruling of 25 August 2008 and remitted the matter for fresh examination at first instance. 55.  On 12 March 2009 the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court of Moscow dismissed the applicant's appeal against the Moscow FMS's decision of 16 May 2008.