CASE OF NAVALNYY v. RUSSIA
Violation of Article 11 - Freedom of assembly and association (Article 11-1 - Freedom of peaceful assembly);Violation of Article 5 - Right to liberty and security (Article 5-1 - Lawful arrest or detention);No violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Administrative proceedings;Article 6-1 - Fair hearing);Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Administrative proceedings;Article 6-1 - Fair hearing);Pecuniary damage - award (Article 41 - Pecuniary damage;Just satisfaction);Non-pecuniary damage - award (Article 41 - Non-pecuniary damage;Just satisfaction)
Alena Poláčková;Branko Lubarda;Dmitry Dedov;Helen Keller;Helena Jäderblom;Luis López Guerra;Pere Pastor Vilanova
5. The applicant was born in 1976 and lives in Moscow. 6. The applicant is a political activist, opposition leader, anticorruption campaigner and popular blogger. These five applications concern his arrests on seven occasions at different public events. 7. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 8. On 5 March 2012 the applicant took part in a meeting at Pushkinskaya Square, Moscow, which began at 7 p.m. It was devoted to the allegedly rigged presidential elections in Russia and had been approved by the municipal authorities. 9. At the end of the meeting, at 9 p.m., State Duma deputy Mr P. addressed the participants, inviting the public to stay after the meeting for informal consultations, which began at about 9.30 p.m. and were attended by some 500 people. According to the applicant, he stayed among others at Pushkinskaya Square for a meeting with the deputy; they remained peacefully within the pedestrian area of the square and did not obstruct the traffic or access. According to the Government, the applicant was holding an irregular gathering without prior notification and was shouting political slogans. 10. At 10.45 p.m. the police arrived and arrested the applicant, among many others. He was taken to the Tverskoy District police station. 11. On the same evening two policemen drew up a report on the administrative offence, stating that the applicant had been arrested at 10.45 p.m. “in a fountain” at Pushkinskaya Square; that he had taken part in an irregular public gathering and that he had ignored police orders to disperse. The applicant was charged with a breach of the established procedure for conducting public events, an offence under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The applicant was released at 12.15 a.m. on 6 March 2012. 12. On 15 March 2012 the Justice of the Peace of Circuit no. 369 of the Tverskoy District examined the administrative charges against the applicant. The applicant challenged the authenticity of the police reports and the witness statement of the two police officers on the grounds that he had been arrested by different police officers, but his objection was dismissed. On the basis of the written statements and testimony of two police officers the Justice of the Peace found the applicant guilty of taking part in an irregular public gathering conducted without prior notification and fined the applicant under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences 1,000 Russian roubles (RUB), at the material time equivalent to about 25 euros (EUR). 13. On 10 April 2012 the Tverskoy District court of Moscow examined the applicant’s appeal. The applicant was absent, but he was represented by a lawyer. The court examined one more eyewitness, a journalist, who testified that before being arrested the applicant was standing “in a fountain, holding hands with others” and chanting political slogans. He also testified that the police officers who had placed the applicant in the police bus were the same officers who had signed the report and who had appeared at the first-instance hearing. The court examined two video recordings submitted by the applicant. It found that the State Duma deputy had indeed called a public meeting, but concluded that at the time of his arrest the applicant was not meeting the deputy but was participating in a protest assembly. It upheld the judgment of 15 March 2012. 14. On 8 May 2012 the applicant took part in an overnight “walkabout”, an informal gathering whereby activists met at a public venue to discuss current affairs. On this occasion, several dozen activists met up to discuss the inauguration of Mr Putin as President of Russia the previous day. On 8 May 2012 some areas of central Moscow were restricted for traffic and pedestrians due to the presidential inauguration and the Victory Day festivities. 15. At 4.30 a.m., according to the applicant, or at 4 a.m., according to the Government, the applicant was walking down Lubyanskiy Proyezd, accompanied by about 170 people. The group stopped on the stairs of a public building for a group photograph. While the applicant was taking the photograph he was arrested by the riot police. At 8 a.m. he was taken to a police station where an administrative offence report was drawn up. The applicant was charged with a breach of the established procedure for conducting public events, an offence under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The applicant was released at 10.50 a.m. on that day. 16. On the same day, at 11.55 p.m., according to the Government, or at 11 p.m., according to the applicant, the applicant was walking down Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in a cluster of about fifty people. According to the applicant, they stayed on the pavement, had no banners or sound equipment, and were causing no nuisance. They were surrounded by the riot police and the applicant was arrested without any order or warning. 17. At 11.58 p.m. on the same day the applicant was taken to a police station where an administrative offence report was drawn up. He was charged with a breach of the established procedure for conducting public events, an offence under Articles 20.2 § 2 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The applicant was released at 2.50 a.m. on 9 May 2012. 18. On 30 May 2012 the Justice of the Peace of Circuit no. 387 of the Basmannyy District examined the charges concerning the applicant’s administrative offence at Lubyanskiy Proyezd. The applicant was absent from the proceedings, but he was represented by his legal counsel, who contested the applicant’s participation in an irregular assembly and claimed that the latter had not chanted any slogans. He asked the Justice of the Peace to admit video evidence and to examine certain eyewitnesses, but she refused to do so. On the basis of written statements by two police officers the Justice of the Peace found the applicant guilty of taking part in a meeting conducted before 7 a.m., in breach of regulations, and fined him under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences RUB 1,000. This judgment was delivered in full on 1 June 2012. It was upheld on 6 July 2012 by the Basmannyy District Court of Moscow. 19. On 1 June 2012 the Justice of the Peace of Circuit no. 380 of the Presnenskiy District examined the administrative charges concerning the applicant’s administrative offence at Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street. The applicant was absent from the proceedings, but he was represented by his legal counsel, who contested the applicant’s participation in an irregular assembly and claimed that the latter had not chanted any slogans. The Justice of the Peace questioned the police officer who had arrested the applicant and three eyewitnesses. The police officer testified that he had arrested the applicant because he was walking in a big group of people, obstructing traffic and chanting political slogans. The eyewitnesses testified that the applicant was walking down the street among about fifty or sixty people, and that the police had blocked their way and had arrested them without any warning; they denied hearing any slogans or amplified sound. The Justice of the Peace refused to admit video evidence and dismissed the eyewitness statements on the grounds that they were likely to be the applicant’s supporters and were therefore biased. The applicant was found guilty of taking part in a meeting conducted in breach of regulations and was fined under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences RUB 1,000. This judgment was upheld on 25 June 2012 by the Presnenskiy District Court of Moscow. 20. On 9 May 2012 the applicant arrived at 5 a.m. at Kudrinskaya Square in Moscow to take part in an informal meeting with a State Duma deputy and to attend the Victory Day festivities. He was among 50 to 100 people “walking about” and discussing current affairs. According to the applicant, this gathering was not a demonstration: there had been no banners, no noise, and no one was chanting any slogans or giving speeches. 21. At 6 a.m. riot police arrived at the site of the meeting and arrested the applicant without any orders or warning. The applicant submitted a video recording of his arrest. 22. At 8.50 a.m. on the same day the applicant was taken to the Strogino District police station. At 11.50 a.m. the applicant was searched and then an administrative offence report was drawn up. According to the applicant, he was detained at the police station for more than three hours before he was brought before a Justice of the Peace. The Government confirmed that the applicant had been detained pending trial, but did not specify the time. 23. At an unidentified time on the same day the applicant was brought before the Justice of the Peace of Circuit no. 375 of the Presnenskiy District of Moscow. The Justice of the Peace refused the applicant’s requests for the police officers who had arrested him to be called and examined, and for video evidence to be admitted, but granted his request for three eyewitnesses to be examined. The witnesses testified that there had been a public meeting with a State Duma deputy to discuss current political developments; that no one had chanted slogans or made noise or obstructed traffic; and that the police had not given any orders or warnings before arresting the applicant. On the basis of the written statements of two police officers the court established that the applicant had taken part in an irregular public meeting and had disobeyed a lawful order from the police to disperse. It also found that the applicant had chanted the slogans “Russia without Putin!” and “Putin is a thief!” and had refused to leave the square, which needed to be cleared for the Victory Day festivities. The Justice of the Peace has rejected the statements of three eyewitnesses, on the grounds that they had different estimates of the number of people present at the venue, the number of police officers who arrested the applicant, and the time of his arrival at the meeting. The applicant was found guilty of disobeying the lawful order of the police, in breach of Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences, and was sentenced to fifteen days’ administrative detention. 24. On 10 May 2012 the applicant lodged an appeal. 25. On 12 December 2012 the Presnenskiy District Court of Moscow examined the appeal. The applicant asked for the police officers on whose reports and statements the Justice of the Peace had based the judgment to be cross-examined, as well as eight eyewitnesses, and for the video recording of the arrest to be admitted as evidence. The court dismissed these requests and upheld the judgment of 9 May 2012. 26. On 27 October 2012 the applicant held a static demonstration (“picket”, пикетирование), which was a part of series of pickets held in Moscow in front of the Russian Investigation Committee to protest “against repressions and torture”. According to the applicant, his demonstration was a solo picket (одиночное пикетирование) which was not subject to a prior notification to the competent public authority. In total, about thirty people consecutively took part in this event. 27. At 3.30 p.m. the police arrested the applicant. According to the applicant, at the moment of arrest he had finished picketing and was walking down the street on the pavement; he was not chanting or carrying any banners, but he was being followed by some people including journalists whose number he estimated as “two dozen”. According to the Government, the applicant had organised an irregular march without prior notification. The applicant was taken to the police station at 4.10 p.m. He was charged with a breach of the established procedure for conducting public events, an offence under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences. He was released at 7.17 p.m. the same day. 28. On 30 October 2012 the Justice of the Peace of Circuit no. 387 of Basmannyy District examined the charges. She examined three eyewitnesses called at the applicant’s request, but his request for the police officers who had arrested him to be called and examined was refused. The applicant’s request for a video recording of the relevant events to be admitted as evidence was also refused, as was the request for a written report from an NGO that had observed the pickets to be admitted in evidence. At the applicant’s request the Justice of the Peace examined three eyewitnesses, who testified that the applicant, after he ended his picket, walked down the street while speaking with a fellow activist, surrounded by journalists; he remained on the pavement, did not chant slogans, and carried no banners; several other participants in the picket remained standing with their banners, at a certain distance from each other; the police arrested the applicant without any warning or explanation. On the basis of the written reports by two police officers the Justice of the Peace found the applicant guilty of taking part in a march which had not been duly notified to the authorities and fined him under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences RUB 30,000 (at the material time equivalent to about EUR 740). She dismissed the witness statements in the applicant’s favour on the grounds that they contradicted the evidence in the case file. 29. On 7 December 2012 the Basmannyy District Court upheld the judgment of 30 October 2012. 30. On 24 February 2014 at 12 noon the applicant went to the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court of Moscow to attend the hearing of the activists on trial for participation in mass disorders at Bolotnaya Square in Moscow on 6 May 2012. On that day the judgment was to be delivered at a public hearing. The court-house was cordoned off by the police, and the applicant could not get in. He therefore remained outside among other members of the public wishing to attend the hearing. According to the applicant he was standing there silently, but the police suddenly rushed into the crowd and arrested him, without any order, warning or pretext. According to the official version, he was holding an irregular gathering and was chanting political slogans. 31. At 12.50 p.m. on the same day the applicant was taken to the police station. He was charged with a breach of the established procedure for conducting public events, an offence under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The applicant was released at 3 p.m. the same day. 32. Later that day, at about 7.45 p.m., the applicant took part in a public gathering following the pronouncement of the judgment concerning mass disorders at Bolotnaya Square in which several activists had been sentenced to prison terms. The gathering of about 150 participants took place at Tverskaya Street. The applicant was arrested while he was standing on the pavement talking to a journalist. According to the applicant he had received no order or warning, and he did not resist the police. According to the police report, when the applicant was being seated in the police vehicle he was waving at the crowd trying to attract media attention, thus demonstrating refusal to comply with the police order and resisting the officers in the performance of their duties. 33. At 8.20 p.m. the applicant was taken to the Tverskoy District police station, where an administrative offence report was drawn up. The applicant was charged with disobeying a lawful order of the police, an offence under Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences. He was remanded in custody. 34. On the following day, 25 February 2014, at an unidentified time, the applicant was brought before the judge of the Tverskoy District Court, who examined the charges under Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The applicant’s request for two eyewitnesses to be examined was granted. They testified that the police had not given the applicant any orders or warnings before proceeding to his arrest. The court admitted and examined the video recording of the contested events and questioned the two police officers on whose reports the charges were based. The court established that the applicant had taken part in an irregular meeting and had disobeyed the lawful order of the police to disperse. The applicant was found guilty of disobeying a lawful order of the police, in breach of Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences, and was sentenced to seven days’ administrative detention. 35. On 7 March 2014 the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court examined the charges relating to the applicant’s alleged participation on 24 February 2014 in an unauthorised public gathering in front of the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court. The applicant requested that two eyewitnesses present at the court-house and the two policemen on whose reports the charges were based be examined. These requests were dismissed. The court admitted a video recording of the contested events, but decided not to take cognisance of its content because it had no date and because it had not reproduced a full sequence of events. On the basis of the written reports by two police officers the judge found the applicant guilty of taking part in a meeting which had not been notified to the competent authority in accordance with the procedure provided by law, and fined him under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences RUB 10,000 (equivalent to about EUR 200). 36. On 24 March 2014 the Moscow City Court upheld the judgment of 25 February 2014. 37. On 22 May 2014 the Moscow City Court upheld the judgment of 7 March 2014.