8.  The applicant was born in 1967 and lives in Gomel, Belarus. 9.  In 1995 the applicant worked in a private asset management company. 10.  In 1996 the General Prosecutor’s Office of Belarus (“the Belarusian GPO”) carried out a criminal investigation into the company’s business. The applicant was twice questioned in the course of the investigation. 11.  In February 1997 the applicant quit his job and in July 1997 moved to St. Petersburg. 12.  The Belarusian GPO considered the applicant’s departure as an attempt to abscond. For this reason, on 22 September 1997 the Belarusian GPO charged the applicant in his absence with large-scale fraud and embezzlement, and issued in his respect a detention order and an international search and arrest warrant. 13.  On 9 July 1998 the Russian police arrested the applicant in St. Petersburg. According to the applicant, the policemen did not inform him of the reasons for his arrest and failed to produce any documents justifying it. 14.  On 9 July 1998 the Russian National Bureau of Interpol sent an urgent wire to its Belarusian counterpart. The Russian Bureau requested conﬁrmation that the applicant was still wanted by the Belarusian authorities and inquired whether the Belarusian authorities planned to request his extradition. 15.  On 11 July 1998 the Russian authorities interviewed the applicant. In the course of the interview, the applicant wrote explanations in which he provided certain details about the investigation in Belarus, his questionings and departure to Russia. The applicant noted that, until his arrest, he had not known that the Belarusian authorities had been searching for him. 16.  On 13 July 1998 the applicant was placed in a temporary detention unit of the St. Petersburg Police Department. 17.  On 16 July 1998 the Belarusian GPO sent to the General Prosecutor’s Ofﬁce of Russia (“the Russian GPO”) a formal request for the applicant’s extradition, pursuant to Article 56 of the CIS[1] Convention on Legal Assistance in Civil, Family and Criminal Cases. On 4 August 1998 the Russian GPO received this request. 18.  On 27 July 1998 the Belarusian National Bureau of Interpol replied to its Russian partner’s wire of 9 July 1998 and requested the applicant’s detention pending the extradition proceedings. 19.  On 13 August 1998 a senior investigator of the Belarusian GPO interrogated the applicant for the ﬁrst time, having come for this purpose from Minsk. The investigator informed the applicant about the nature of the accusation against him but did not serve formal charges.
According to the applicant, it was not until then that he was for the ﬁrst time informed – albeit only orally – about the charges. 20.  On 20 August (19 August, according to the Government) 1998, the applicant was transferred to Remand Centre IZ–47/4 in St. Petersburg. 21.  According to the applicant, in August–November 1998 his lawyer lodged three applications for his release: on 18 August 1998 with the Dzerzhinskiy District Court of St. Petersburg, on 27 August 1998 with the Kalininskiy District Court of St. Petersburg, and on 2 November 1998 with the St. Petersburg City Court. These applications were made pursuant to Article 220-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which provided for the judicial review of detention on remand.
According to the Government, the applicant’s lawyer did not lodge these applications. 22.  On 25 September 1998 the Russian GPO agreed to extradite the applicant. 23.  On 5 October 1998 the St. Petersburg Prosecutor’s Office informed the applicant’s lawyer that, on 11 August 1998, the Russian GPO had ordered the applicant’s continued detention pending the extradition proceedings, pursuant to the request of the Belarusian authorities and because the applicant was not a Russian citizen. 24.  On 25 October 1998 the applicant was re-located to Remand Centre no. 1 in Smolensk. 25.  On 17 November (12 November, according to the Government) 1998 he was handed over to the Belarusian authorities. 26.  On 24 November 2000 the Zheleznodorozhnyi District Court of Gomel convicted the applicant and sentenced him to three years’ suspended imprisonment with compulsory community work.