CASE OF SERGEY ZAYTSEV v. RUSSIA
Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Criminal proceedings;Article 6-1 - Public hearing;Exclusion of public)
Branko Lubarda;Dmitry Dedov;Helena Jäderblom
4. The applicant was born in 1984 and lives in Volgograd. 5. On 26 October 2002 the applicant was arrested on a charge of murder. On 28 October 2002 the Traktorozavodskiy District Court of Volgograd authorised his pre-trial detention. The applicant remained in custody during the investigation and pending the trial. 6. On 24 November 2003 the Volgograd Regional Court scheduled the trial of the applicant and seven other defendants for 24 December 2003. The court also ruled that the trial was to be held in camera. 7. On 26 April 2005 the Volgograd Regional Court convicted the applicant of murder committed out of national hatred and sentenced him to nine years’ imprisonment. The applicant appealed. 8. On 22 February 2006 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation upheld the applicant’s conviction on appeal. The court decided to hear the applicant’s case in his absence. His lawyer was present and made submissions to the court. 9. On 30 August 2010 the applicant was released on parole. 10. On 8 December 2010 the Presidium of the Supreme Court quashed the judgment of 22 February 2006 by way of supervisory review and remitted the matter for fresh consideration. 11. On 1 February 2011 the Supreme Court held a new appeal hearing. The court found that the case had become time-barred under the statute of limitations and discharged the applicant from serving a prison sentence. The applicant’s lawyer was present and made submissions to the court. The applicant did not attend the hearing.