CASE OF MARIYA ALEKHINA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
Remainder inadmissible (Art. 35) Admissibility criteria;(Art. 35-1) Six-month period;(Art. 35-3-a) Manifestly ill-founded;Violation of Article 3 - Prohibition of torture (Article 3 - Degrading treatment;Inhuman treatment) (Substantive aspect);Violation of Article 3 - Prohibition of torture (Article 3 - Degrading treatment) (Substantive aspect);Violation of Article 5 - Right to liberty and security (Article 5-3 - Length of pre-trial detention);Violation of Article 6+6-3-c - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Criminal proceedings;Article 6-1 - Fair hearing) (Article 6 - Right to a fair trial;Article 6-3-c - Defence through legal assistance);Violation of Article 10 - Freedom of expression-{general} (Article 10-1 - Freedom of expression);Violation of Article 10 - Freedom of expression-{general} (Article 10-1 - Freedom of expression);Non-pecuniary damage - award (Article 41 - Non-pecuniary damage;Just satisfaction)
Alena Poláčková;Dmitry Dedov;Georgios A. Serghides;Helen Keller;Helena Jäderblom
5. The first applicant, Ms Mariya Vladimirovna Alekhina, was born in 1988. The second applicant, Ms Nadezhda Andreyevna Tolokonnikova, was born in 1989. The third applicant, Ms Yekaterina Stanislavovna Samutsevich, was born in 1982. The applicants live in Moscow. 6. The three applicants are members of a Russian feminist punk band, Pussy Riot. The applicants founded Pussy Riot in late 2011. The group carried out a series of impromptu performances of their songs Release the Cobblestones, Kropotkin Vodka, Death to Prison, Freedom to Protest and Putin Wet Himself in various public areas in Moscow, such as a subway station, the roof of a tram, on top of a booth and in a shop window. 7. According to the applicants, their actions were a response to the ongoing political process in Russia and the highly critical opinion which representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, including its leader Patriarch Kirill, had expressed about large-scale street protests in Moscow and many other Russian cities against the results of the parliamentary elections of December 2011. They were also protesting against the participation of Vladimir Putin in the presidential election that was due in early March 2012. 8. The applicants argued that their songs contained “clear and strongly worded political messages critical of the government and expressing support for feminism, the rights of minorities and the ongoing political protests”. The group performed in disguise, with its members wearing brightly coloured balaclavas and dresses, in various public places selected to enhance their message. 9. Following a performance of Release the Cobblestones in October 2011, several Pussy Riot members, including the second and third applicants, were arrested and fined under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences for organising and holding an unauthorised assembly. On 14 December 2011 three members of the group performed on the roof of a building at temporary detention facility no. 1 in Moscow. The performance was allegedly held in support of protesters who had been arrested and placed in that facility for taking part in street protests in Moscow on 5 December 2011. The band performed Death to Prison, Freedom to Protest and hung a banner saying “Freedom to Protest” on it from the roof of the building. No attempt to arrest the band was made. A video of the performance was published on the Internet. 10. On 20 January 2012 eight members of the band held a performance entitled Riot in Russia at Moscow’s Red Square. The group sang a song called Putin Wet Himself. All eight members of the band were arrested and fined under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences, the same as before. 11. In response to the public support and endorsement provided by Patriarch Kirill to Mr Putin, members of Pussy Riot wrote a protest song called Punk Prayer – Virgin Mary, Drive Putin Away. A translation of the lyrics is as follows: “Virgin Mary, Mother of God, drive Putin away Drive Putin away, drive Putin away Black robe, golden epaulettes Parishioners crawl to bow The phantom of liberty is in heaven Gay pride sent to Siberia in chains The head of the KGB, their chief saint, Leads protesters to prison under escort So as not to offend His Holiness Women must give birth and love Shit, shit, holy shit! Shit, shit, holy shit! Virgin Mary, Mother of God, become a feminist Become a feminist, become a feminist The Church’s praise of rotten dictators The cross-bearer procession of black limousines A teacher-preacher will meet you at school Go to class - bring him cash! Patriarch Gundyaev believes in Putin Bitch, better believe in God instead The girdle of the Virgin can’t replace rallies Mary, Mother of God, is with us in protest! Virgin Mary, Mother of God, drive Putin away Drive Putin away, drive Putin away.” 12. On 18 February 2012 a performance of the song was carried out at the Epiphany Cathedral in the district of Yelokhovo in Moscow. The applicants and two other members of the band wearing brightly coloured balaclavas and dresses entered the cathedral, set up an amplifier, a microphone and a lamp for better lighting and performed the song while dancing. The performance was recorded on video. No complaint to the police was made in relation to that performance. 13. On 21 February 2012 five members of the band, including the three applicants, attempted to perform Punk Prayer – Virgin Mary, Drive Putin Away from the altar of Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral. No service was taking place, although a number of persons were inside the Cathedral. The band had invited journalists and media to the performance to gain publicity. The attempt was unsuccessful as cathedral guards quickly forced the band out, with the performance only lasting slightly over a minute. 14. The events unfolded as follows. The five members of the band, dressed in overcoats and carrying bags or backpacks, stepped over a low railing and ran up to the podium in front of the altar (the soleas). After reaching the steps, the band removed their coats, showing their characteristic brightly coloured dresses underneath. They also put on coloured balaclavas. They placed their bags on the floor and started taking things out of them. At that moment the video recorded someone calling out for security and a security guard then ran up the steps to the band. The band member dressed in white, the third applicant, pulled a guitar from her bag and tried to put the strap over her shoulder. Another guard ran up to the second applicant and started pulling her away. Moments later the band started singing the song without any musical accompaniment. The guard let go of the second applicant and grabbed the third applicant by the arm, including her guitar, at the same time calling on his radio for help. The radio fell out of his hand but he did not let go of the third applicant and pushed her down the steps. While the third applicant was being pushed away by the guard, three of the other band members continued singing and dancing without music. Words such as “holy shit”, “congregation” and “in heaven” were audible on the video recording. At the same time the second applicant was trying to set up a microphone and a music player. She managed to turn the player on and music started playing. A uniformed security guard grabbed the player and took it away. At the same time four band members, including the first two applicants, continued singing and dancing on the podium, kicking their legs in the air and throwing their arms around. Two cathedral employees grabbed the first applicant and another band member dressed in pink. She ran away from the security guard, while the second applicant kneeled down and started making the sign of the cross and praying. The band continued singing, kneeled down and started crossing themselves and praying. 15. Cathedral staff members escorted the band away from the altar. The video-recording showed that the last band member left the altar one minute and thirty-five seconds after the beginning of the performance. The guards accompanied the band to the exit of the cathedral, making no attempt to stop them or the journalists from leaving. 16. A video containing footage of the band’s performances of the song, both at the Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhovo and at Christ the Saviour Cathedral, was uploaded to YouTube. 17. On 21 February 2012 a deputy director general of private security company Kolokol-A, Mr O., complained to the head of the Khamovniki district police in Moscow of “a violation of public order” by a group of unidentified people in Christ the Saviour Cathedral. Mr O. stated that at 11.20 a.m. that day unidentified individuals had screamed and danced on “the premises of the cathedral”, thus “insulting the feelings of members of the church”. The individuals had not responded to reprimands by churchgoers, clergymen or guards. 18. A similar complaint was lodged three days later by the acting director of the Christ the Saviour Cathedral Fund, Mr P. He called the applicants’ conduct disorderly, extremist and insulting to Orthodox churchgoers and the Russian Orthodox Church. Mr P. also stated that the band’s actions had been aimed at stirring up religious intolerance and hatred. Printouts of photographs of the band’s performances and the full lyrics of Punk Prayer – Virgin Mary, Drive Putin Away, downloaded from the group’s website, were attached to the complaint. 19. On 24 February 2012 the police instituted criminal proceedings. Cathedral staff members and guards were questioned. They stated that their religious feelings had been offended by the incident and that they could identify three of the band members as they had taken off their balaclavas during the performance. 20. On 3 March 2012 the second applicant was arrested. The first applicant was apprehended the following day. They were charged with the aggravated offence of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. The third applicant was also stopped by the police in the street and taken in for questioning on 3 March 2012. She had no identification documents and did not provide her real name, instead identifying herself as Ms Irina Vladimirovna Loktina. Her mobile telephone and a computer flash drive were seized and she was released after the interview. 21. On 5 March 2012 the Taganskiy District Court of Moscow issued separate detention orders to remand the first two applicants in custody until 24 April 2012. In terms of the circumstances precluding the application of a less stringent measure to the applicants, the court cited the gravity of the charges, the severity of the penalty they faced, the “cynicism and insolence of the crime” the applicants were charged with, their choice not to live at their places of permanent residence, their lack of permanent “legal” sources of income, the first applicant’s failure to care for her child and the second applicant’s right to move to and reside in Canada. It also cited the fact that certain members of Pussy Riot were still unidentified or on the run. 22. The detention orders became final on 14 March 2012, when the Moscow City Court upheld them on appeal, fully endorsing the District Court’s reasoning. 23. The third applicant was placed in custody on 16 March 2012 by the Taganskiy District Court after finally being identified by the police and charged with the same criminal offence as the first two applicants. The District Court found that the risks of the third applicant absconding, reoffending and perverting the course of justice warranted her detention. Those risks were linked by the court to the following considerations: the gravity of the charges, the severity of the penalty she faced, her unwillingness to identify other members of the band, her lack of a permanent legal source of income, and her use of an assumed identity while communicating with the police on previous occasions. The decision was upheld on appeal by the Moscow City Court on 28 March 2012. 24. By three separate detention orders issued on 19 April 2012 the Taganskiy District Court further extended the applicants’ detention until 24 June 2012. Citing the grounds it had used to substantiate the need for the applicants’ placement in custody, the District Court concluded that no new circumstances warranting their release had come to light. It also noted the first applicant’s blanket refusal to confess to the offence with which she had been charged or to any other act prohibited by the Russian Criminal Code. It also stated that the applicants’ arrests had only been possible due to searches conducted by the Russian police as it had not been possible to find them at their places of permanent residence. 25. On 20 June 2012 the Taganskiy District Court once again extended the applicants’ detention, citing the same reasons as in the previous detention orders. On 9 July 2012 the Moscow City Court agreed that it was necessary to continue holding the applicants in custody. 26. In a pre-trial hearing on 20 July 2012 the Khamovnicheskiy District Court of Moscow allowed an application by a prosecutor for a further extension of the applicants’ detention, finding that the circumstances which had initially called for their being held on remand had not changed. The applicants were to remain in custody until 12 January 2013. The District Court dismissed the arguments the applicants put forward pertaining to their family situation (the first two applicants had young children), the fragile health of the second applicant, the fact that the three applicants had registered their places of residence in Moscow and that the criminal proceedings against them were already at a very advanced stage. The court also refused to accept personal written sureties given by fifty-seven individuals, including famous Russian actors, writers, film producers, journalists, businessmen, singers and politicians. 27. On 22 August 2012 the Moscow City Court upheld the detention order of 20 July 2012, considering it lawful and well-founded. 28. In the meantime, investigators ordered expert opinions to determine whether the video-recording including the performance of Punk Prayer – Virgin Mary, Drive Putin Away downloaded from the Internet was motivated by religious hatred, whether the performance of the song at the cathedral could therefore amount to incitement of religious hatred, and whether it had been an attack on the religious feelings of Orthodox believers. In the first two reports, commissioned by a State expert bureau and issued on 2 April and 14 May 2012 respectively, five experts answered in the negative to those questions. In particular, the experts concluded that the applicants’ actions on 21 February 2012 at Christ the Saviour Cathedral had not contained any signs of a call or an intention to incite religious hatred or enmity. The experts concluded that the applicants had not been violent or aggressive, had not called for violence in respect of any social or religious group and had not targeted or insulted any religious group. 29. A third expert opinion subsequently requested by the investigators from directly appointed individual experts produced an entirely different response. In a report issued on 23 May 2012 three experts – a professor from the Gorky Institute of World Literature, a professor at the Moscow City Psychological Pedagogical University, and the President of a regional NGO, the Institute of State Confessional Relations and Law – concluded that the performance and video had been motivated by religious hatred, in particular hatred and enmity towards Orthodox believers, and had insulted the religious feelings of such believers. 30. On 20 July 2012 the three applicants were committed to stand trial before the Khamovnicheskiy District Court. The trial was closely followed by national and international media. 31. The trial court dismissed numerous complaints by the applicants related to the negative impact of security measures in place at the courthouse on their right to communicate freely with counsel and to prepare their defence. In particular, in applications to the trial court of 23 July 2012 for time for a confidential meeting with their lawyers, they stated that confidential communication was impossible because of the presence of police officers and court ushers around the dock. The applicants raised the issue again in a similar application on 24 July 2012, which was repeated at a hearing on 30 July 2012. 32. The applicants provided the following description of the hearings. Throughout the trial they were held in an enclosed dock with glass walls and a tight-fitting door, which was commonly known as an “aquarium”. There was insufficient ventilation inside the glass dock and it was hard to breathe, given the high summer temperatures. A desk for the applicants’ lawyers was installed in front of the dock. There was always high security around the dock, which at times included seven armed police officers and a guard dog. Colour photographs of the courtroom submitted by the applicants show police officers and court ushers surrounding the dock, either behind or close to the defence lawyers’ desk. Some photographs show female police officers positioned between the lawyers’ desk and the glass dock containing the applicants. The applicants had to use a small window measuring 15 x 60 cm to communicate with their lawyers, which they had to bend down to use as it was only a metre off the ground. The applicants had to take turns to speak to their lawyers as the window was too small for all three to use it simultaneously. According to the applicants, confidential communication with their defence team was impossible as a police officer always stood nearby monitoring their conversations and any documents which were passed between them. Furthermore, a dog was present in the courtroom, which was at times particularly disturbing as it had barked during the hearings and behaved restlessly. 33. According to the applicants, it was virtually impossible to communicate with their lawyers outside the courtroom as they were taken back to the detention facility at night, when it was too late to be allowed visitors. 34. The lawyers applied several times to the District Court for permission to hold confidential meetings with the applicants. The lawyers and applicants also sought an adjournment of the hearings to give the defence an opportunity to consult their clients in private, either in the courthouse or in the detention facility, but those requests were fruitless. 35. Similarly, the court dismissed applications to call the experts who had issued the three expert reports or to call additional experts, including art historians and specialists in the fields of contemporary art and religious studies, who could have provided opinions on the nature of the performance on 21 February 2012. The defence’s challenges to the third expert report issued on 23 May 2012 were also unsuccessful. 36. According to the applicants, when there were hearings they were transported from the detention facility to court in a prison van: they were usually transported in a small vehicle when being taken to the courthouse in the morning and in a bigger one when being taken back to the detention facility in the evening. The bigger van consisted of two long sections so men and women could be transported separately. The vans had two or three compartments separated by metal partitions, each designed to accommodate one inmate. The common area of the vans was equipped with benches, while the roof was so low detainees could not stand up. The space in the common compartment of the smaller van was no more than 2 sq. m and was designed for four people, while the space in the bigger van was approximately 5 sq. m. 37. According to the applicants, they were transported in single-person compartments to their custody hearings and in common compartments later on. Most of the time the vans were overcrowded, with detainees sitting directly against each other, with squashed up legs and shoulders. The bigger vans transported between thirty and forty detainees, making a number of stops at various Moscow facilities to pick up detainees. The vans were sometimes so full that there was no place to sit. Smoking was not prohibited but many detainees did do so. The second and third applicant had severe headaches as a result of the conditions of transport. 38. The temperature in Moscow at the time of the trial was as high as 30oC, while inside the vans it reached 40oC. The natural ventilation in the single-person compartments was insufficient and the system of forced ventilation was rarely switched on. When it was switched on, it was only for a very short time because of the noise it made and so it was hardly ever used. A fan was switched on during the summer but did not make the conditions of the cramped space any more bearable. 39. The journey to the courthouse usually took two to three hours, but could sometimes last as long as five hours. Detainees were not allowed to use the toilet unless the police van drove past the Moscow City Court, where inmates were allowed to relieve themselves. 40. On the days of court hearings the applicants were woken up at 5 or 6 a.m. to carry out the necessary procedures for leaving the facility and were only taken back to the detention facility late at night. The applicants missed mealtimes at the detention facility because of such early departures and late returns. 41. On leaving the detention facility in the morning they received a lunch box containing four packets of dry biscuits (for a total of eight each), two packets of dry cereal, one packet of dry soup and two tea bags. However, it was impossible to use the soup and tea bags as hot water was only made available to them five minutes before they were taken out of their cells to the courtroom, which was not enough time to eat. 42. The applicants were forbidden to have drinking water with them during the hearings: requests for short breaks to drink some water and use the toilet were regularly refused, which caused them physical suffering. 43. On 1 August 2012 an ambulance was called twice to the court because the applicants became dizzy and had headaches owing to a lack of food, water, rest and sleep. They were both times found fit for trial. 44. The Government provided the following information concerning the vehicles in which the applicants had been transported to and from the courthouse: 45. It appears from the information provided by the Government that between 20 July and 17 August 2012 the applicants were transported between Moscow’s SIZO-6 remand prison and the Khamovnicheskiy District Court twice a day for fifteen days. The trips lasted between thirtyfive minutes and one hour and twenty minutes. The trips back from the court lasted between twenty minutes and four hours and twenty minutes. 46. According to the Government, the daytime temperature in Moscow in July and August 2012 only reached 30oC on 7 August 2012 and that, furthermore, the mornings and evenings, when the applicants were transported, were cooler than the temperature at midday. All the vehicles underwent a technical check and were cleaned before departure. They were also disinfected once a week. The passenger compartment had natural ventilation through windows and ventilation panes. The vehicles were also equipped with a system of forced ventilation. The passenger compartment had artificial lighting in the roof. The Government provided photographs of the vehicles and extracts from the vehicle logs to corroborate their assertion that the number of passengers never exceeded the upper limit on places given in the table in paragraph 44 above. People transported in such vehicles could use toilets in courthouses that were on the vehicles’ route. 47. The Government submitted that the area at the Khamovnicheskiy District Court where the applicants had been held before the hearings and during breaks consisted of six cells equipped with benches and forced ventilation. A kettle had also been available to them. The Government provided reports by the officers on duty at the Khamovnicheskiy District Court on the dates of the applicants’ hearings to corroborate their statement that the applicants had always been provided with a lunch box and boiling water when being transported to court. 48. On 17 August 2012 the Khamovnicheskiy District Court found the three applicants guilty under Article 213 § 2 of the Russian Criminal Code of hooliganism for reasons of religious hatred and enmity and for reasons of hatred towards a particular social group. It found that they had committed the crime in a group, acting with premeditation and in concert, and sentenced each of them to two years’ imprisonment. The trial court held that the applicants’ choice of venue and their apparent disregard for the cathedral’s rules of conduct had demonstrated their enmity towards the feelings of Orthodox believers, and that the religious feelings of those present in the cathedral had therefore been offended. While also taking into account the video-recording of the song Punk Prayer – Virgin Mary, Drive Putin Away, the District Court rejected the applicants’ arguments that their performance had been politically rather than religiously motivated. It stated that the applicants had not made any political statements during their performance on 21 February 2012. 49. The District Court based its findings on the testimony of a number of witnesses, including the cathedral employees and churchgoers present during the performance on 21 February 2012 and others who, while not witnesses to the actual performance, had watched the video of Punk Prayer – Virgin Mary, Drive Putin Away on the Internet or had been present at the applicants’ performance at the Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhovo (see paragraph 12 above). The witnesses provided a description of the events on 21 February 2012 or of the video and attested to having been insulted by the applicants’ actions. In addition, the District Court referred to statements by representatives of various religions about the insulting nature of the applicants’ performance. 50. The District Court also relied on the expert report issued on 23 May 2012, rejecting the first two expert reports for the following reasons: “...in light of the provisions of Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code – incitement to hatred, enmity or disparagement, as can be seen from the questions put [to the experts] and the answers given by them. Moreover, the expert opinions do not fulfil the requirements of Articles 201 and 204 of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure. The reports lack any reference to the methods used during the examinations. The experts also exceeded the limits of the questions put before them; they gave answers to questions which were not mentioned in the [investigators’] decisions ordering the expert examinations. The reports do not provide a linguistic and psychological analysis of the lyrics of the song performed in Christ the Saviour Cathedral, and the experts did not carry out a sentiment analysis and psychological assessment of the song’s lyrics in relation to the place where the crime had been committed (an Orthodox church). [The experts] examined the lyrics of the song selectively. Given the lack of a linguistic and psychological analysis of the lyrics of the song performed in Christ the Saviour Cathedral, the experts made an unfounded and poorly reasoned conclusion, which runs counter to the testimony of the eyewitnesses, the victims of the crime, who expressed an extremely negative view of the events in Christ the Saviour Cathedral and of the video-recording.” 51. On the other hand, the District Court found the expert report of 23 May 2012 to be “detailed, well founded and scientifically reasoned”. The experts’ conclusions were seen by the court as substantiated and not open to dispute, given that the information received from the experts corresponded to the information received from other sources, such as the victims and the witness statements. The court also stressed that it would not call the experts or authorise an additional expert examination as it had no doubts about the conclusions made in the report in question. 52. The District Court’s main reasons for finding that the applicants had committed hooliganism motivated by religious hatred were as follows: “The court cannot accept the defence’s argument that the defendants’ actions were not motivated by religious hatred and enmity or hatred against a social group. The court finds that the defendants’ actions were motivated by religious hatred for the following reasons. The defendants present themselves as supporters of feminism, a movement for equality between women and men. ... At the present time people belonging to the feminist movement fight for equality of the sexes in political, family and sexual relations. Belonging to the feminist movement is not unlawful and is not a criminal offence in the Russian Federation. A number of religions, such as the Orthodox Church, Catholicism and Islam, have a religious, dogmatic basis incompatible with the ideas of feminism. And while feminism is not a religious theory, its adherents interfere with various areas of social relations such as morality, rules of decency, family relations, sexual relations, including those of a non-traditional nature, which were historically constructed on the basis of religious views. In the modern world, relations between nations and nationalities and between different religions must be built on the principles of mutual respect and equality. The idea that one is superior and the others inferior, that a different ideology, social group or religion are unacceptable, gives grounds for mutual enmity, hatred and personal conflicts. The defendants’ hatred and enmity were demonstrated in the court hearings, as was seen from their reactions, emotions and responses in the course of the examination of the victims and witnesses. ... It can be seen from the statements of the victims, witnesses, defendants and the material evidence that Pussy Riot’s performances are carried out by way of a sudden appearance by the group [in public places] with the band dressed in brightly coloured clothes and wearing balaclavas to cover [their] faces. Members of the group make brusque movements with their heads, arms and legs, accompanying them with obscene language and other words of an insulting nature. That behaviour does not respect the canons of the Orthodox Church, irrespective of whether it takes place in a cathedral or outside its walls. Representatives of other religions and people who do not consider themselves believers also find such behaviour unacceptable. Pussy Riot’s ‘performances’ outside religious buildings, although containing signs of clear disrespect for society motivated by religious hatred and enmity and hatred of a specific social group, are not associated with a specific object and therefore amount to a violation of moral standards or an offence. However, placing such a performance within an Orthodox cathedral changes the object of the crime. It represents in that case a mixture of relations between people, rules of conduct established by legal acts, morality, customs, traditions which guarantee a socially tranquil environment and the protection of individuals in various spheres of their lives, as well as the proper functioning of the State and public institutions. Violating the internal regulations of Christ the Saviour Cathedral was merely a way of showing disrespect for society, motivated by religious hatred and enmity and hatred towards a social group. The court concludes that [the applicants’] actions ... offend and insult the feelings of a large group of people in the present case in view of their connection with religion, [their actions] incite feelings of hatred and enmity and therefore violate the constitutional basis of the State. [The applicants’] intention to incite religious hatred and enmity and hatred towards a specific social group in view of its connection with religion, in public, is confirmed by the following facts. A so-called ‘punk prayer’ was carried out in a public place – Christ the Saviour Cathedral. [The applicants] knowingly envisaged a negative response to that performance on the part of society as they had prepared bright, open dresses and balaclavas in advance and on 21 February 2012 publicly and in an organised group carried out their actions, which were motivated by religious hatred and enmity and hatred towards a social group in view of its connection with religion. ... Given the particular circumstances of the criminal offence, its nature, the division of the roles, the actions of the accomplices, the time, place and method of committing the offence of hooliganism, that is to say a gross violation of public order committed by a group of people acting in premeditated fashion and in concert, and which demonstrated an explicit lack of respect for society motivated by religious hatred and enmity and hatred towards a social group, the court is convinced that [the applicants] were correctly charged with the [offence] and that their guilt in committing [it] has been proven during the trial. [The applicants’] actions are an obvious and gross violation of generally accepted standards and rules of conduct, given the content of their actions and the place where they were carried out. The defendants violated the generally accepted rules and standards of conduct accepted as the basis of public order in Christ the Saviour Cathedral. The use of offensive language in public in the vicinity of Orthodox icons and objects of worship can only be characterised as a violation of public order, given the place where those actions were carried out. In fact, there was mockery and humiliation of the people present in the Cathedral, a violation of social tranquillity, unauthorised and wilful entry into the cathedral’s ambon and soleas, accompanied by intentional, stubborn and a lengthy period of disobedience to the reprimands and orders of the guards and churchgoers. ... The court dismisses [the applicants’] arguments that they had no intention to incite religious hatred or enmity or to offend the dignity of a group of people because of their religious beliefs, as those arguments were refuted by the evidence in the case. ... Although the members of Pussy Riot cite political motives for their actions, arguing that they have a positive attitude to the Orthodox religion and that their performance was directed against the uniting of Church and State, their words are refuted by their actions, lyrics and articles found [in the course of the investigation]. The defendants’ arguments that their actions in the cathedral were not motivated by hatred or enmity towards Orthodox churchgoers and Christianity, but were governed by political considerations, are also unsubstantiated because, as can be seen from the victims’ statements, no political claims were made and no names of political leaders were mentioned during the defendants’ acts of disorder in the Cathedral.” 53. Citing the results of psychological expert examinations commissioned by investigators, the District Court noted that the three applicants suffered from mixed personality disorders, which did not affect their understanding of the criminal nature of the act they had carried out in the cathedral and did not call for psychiatric treatment. The psychiatric diagnosis was made on the basis of the applicants’ active social position, their reliance on their personal experience when taking decisions, their determination to defend social values, the “peculiarity” of their interests, their stubbornness in defending their opinion, their confidence and their disregard for social rules and standards. 54. As regards the punishment to be imposed on the applicants, the District Court ruled as follows: “Taking into account the gravity and social danger of the offence, the circumstances in which it was committed, the object and reasons for committing the offence, and [the applicants’] attitude towards their acts, the court believes that the goals of punishment, such as the restoration of social justice, the correction of people who have been convicted and the prevention of the commission of new offences, can only be achieved by sentencing them to prison and their serving the sentence ...” 55. The two-year prison sentence was to be calculated from the date of arrest of each of the applicants, that is from 3, 4 and 15 March 2012 respectively. 56. On 28 August 2012 the applicants’ lawyers lodged an appeal on behalf of the three applicants and on 30 August 2012 the first applicant submitted an additional statement to her appeal. She stated, in particular, that throughout the trial she and the other accused had not been able to have confidential consultations with their lawyers. 57. On 10 October 2012, the Moscow City Court decided on the appeals by upholding the judgment of 17 August 2012 as far as it concerned the first two applicants, but amended it in respect of the third applicant. Given the third applicant’s “role in the criminal offence [and] her attitude towards the events [of 21 February 2012]”, the City Court suspended her sentence, gave her two years’ probation and released her in the courtroom. The Moscow City Court did not address the issue of confidential consultations between the applicants and their lawyers. 58. On 23 December 2013 the first and second applicants were released from serving their sentence under a general amnesty issued by the Duma on 18 December 2013, the Amnesty on the Twentieth Anniversary of the Adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. 59. On 9 January 2014 the third applicant was also amnestied. 60. On 8 February 2013 the Ombudsman, on behalf of the second applicant, applied to the Presidium of the Moscow City Court for supervisory review of the conviction. He argued, in particular, that the applicants’ actions had not amounted to hooliganism as they could not be regarded as inciting hatred or enmity. Breaches of the normal functioning of places of worship, insults to religious feelings or the profanation of religious objects were administrative offences punishable under Article 5.26 of the Code of Administrative Offences. 61. On 15 March 2013 Judge B. of the Moscow City Court refused to institute supervisory review proceedings. 62. In a letter of 28 May 2013 the President of the Moscow City Court refused to review the decision of 15 March 2013. 63. On 8 November 2013 the Ombudsman submitted an application for supervisory review to the Supreme Court. As well as the arguments set out in the previous application, he added that public criticism of officials, including heads of State, the government and the heads of religious communities, was a way of exercising the constitutional right to freedom of speech. 64. On unspecified date the first and second applicants’ representatives also applied for supervisory review to the Supreme Court on their behalf. They argued, inter alia, that the applicants’ actions had amounted to political criticism, not incitement to hatred or enmity on religious grounds or towards any social group. Furthermore, they pointed to a number of alleged breaches of criminal procedure in the course of the trial. 65. On 10 December 2014 the Supreme Court instituted supervisory review proceedings upon the above applications. 66. On unspecified date the third applicant also applied for supervisory review of her conviction. 67. On 17 December 2014 the Supreme Court instituted supervisory review proceedings upon her application. 68. On an unspecified date the case was transferred to the Presidium of the Moscow City Court for supervisory review. 69. On 4 April 2014 the Presidium of the Moscow City Court reviewed the case. It upheld the findings that the applicants’ actions had amounted to incitement to religious hatred or enmity and dismissed the arguments concerning breaches of criminal procedure at the trial. At the same time, it removed the reference to “hatred towards a particular social group” from the judgment as it had not been established which social group had been concerned. It reduced each applicant’s sentence to one year and eleven months’ imprisonment. 70. The group uploaded a video of their performance of Punk Prayer – Virgin Mary, Drive Putin Away at the Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhovo and at Christ the Saviour Cathedral to their website http://pussy-riot.livejournal.com. It was also republished by many websites. 71. On 26 September 2012 a State Duma member, Mr S., asked the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation to study the video of the group’s performance, to stop its dissemination and to ban the websites which had published it. 72. As a result of that assessment, on 2 November 2012 the Zamoskvoretskiy Inter-District Prosecutor applied to the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court of Moscow for a declaration that the Internet pages http://www.pussy-riot.livejournal.com/8459.html, http://www.pussy-riot.livejournal.com/5164.html, http://www.pussy-riot.livejournal.com/5763.html and http://pussy-riot.livejournal.com/5497.html were extremist. They contained text posted by Pussy Riot, photographs and videos of their performances, including videos for Riot in Russia, Putin Wet Himself; Kropotkin Vodka; Death to Prison, Freedom to Protest; Release the Cobblestones and Punk Prayer – Virgin Mary, Drive Putin Away (see paragraph 11 above and Appendix for lyrics). The prosecutor also sought to limit access to the material in question by installing a filter to block the IP addresses of websites where the recordings had been published. 73. After learning of the prosecutor’s application through the media, the third applicant lodged an application with the District Court on 12 November 2012, seeking to join the proceedings as an interested party. She argued that her rights as a member of Pussy Riot would be affected by any court decision in the case. 74. On 20 November 2012 the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court dismissed her application, finding as follows: “ Having considered [the third applicant’s] argument that a decision issued in response to the prosecutor’s request could affect [her] rights and obligations, the court finds this argument unsubstantiated because the judgment of 17 August 2012 issued by the Khamovnicheskiy District Court in respect of the third applicant became final on 10 October 2012; [she] was found guilty by that judgment under Article 213 § 2 of the Russian Criminal Code of hooliganism committed in a group acting in premeditated fashion and in concert. That judgment can be appealed against by way of supervisory review in entirely different proceedings. [The third applicant’s] argument that charges related to a criminal offence under Article 282 § 2 (c) of the Russian Criminal Code were severed from [the first] criminal case cannot, in the court’s opinion, show that [her] rights and obligations would be influenced by the court’s decision issued in respect of the prosecutor’s request because there is no evidence that [she] took any part in disseminating the materials published on the Internet sites identified by the prosecutor [.] [T]here is no evidence that [she] owns those websites either. Therefore the court concludes that an eventual decision on the prosecutor’s request for the materials to be declared extremist will not affect [the third applicant’s] rights and obligations; and therefore there are no grounds for her to join the proceedings as an interested party.” 75. On 28 November 2012 the third applicant appealed against that decision. 76. On 29 November 2012 the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court ruled that video content on http://pussy-riot.livejournal.com was extremist, namely the video-recordings of their performances of Riot in Russia, Putin Wet Himself; Kropotkin Vodka; Death to Prison, Freedom to Protest; Release the Cobblestones and Punk Prayer – Virgin Mary, Drive Putin Away. It also ordered that access to that material be limited by a filter on the website’s IP address. Relying on sections 1, 12 and 13 of the Suppression of Extremism Act and section 10(1) and (6) of the Federal Law on Information, Information Technologies and the Protection of Information, the court gave the reasons for its decision and stated as follows: “According to section 1 of [the Suppression of Extremism Act], extremist activity is deemed to be constituted by, inter alia, the stirring up of social, racial, ethnic or religious discord; propaganda about the exceptional nature, superiority or deficiency of persons on the basis of their social, racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic affiliation or attitude to religion; violations of human and civil rights and freedoms and lawful interests in connection with a person’s social, racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic affiliation or attitude to religion; public appeals to carry out the above-mentioned acts or the mass dissemination of knowingly extremist material, and likewise the production or storage thereof with the aim of mass dissemination. ... Results from monitoring the Internet and of a psychological linguistic expert examination performed by experts from the Federal Scientific Research University’s ‘Russian Institute for Cultural Research’ state that the Internet sites http://www.pussy-riot.livejournal.com/8459.html, http://www.pussy-riot.livejournal.com/5164.html, http://www.pussy-riot.livejournal.com/5763.html and http://pussy-riot.livejournal.com/5497.html contain video materials of an extremist nature. That conclusion is confirmed by report no. 55/13 of 26 March 2012 on the results of the psychological linguistic expert examination performed by experts from the Federal Scientific Research University’s ‘Russian Institute for Cultural Research’. The court concludes that free access to video materials of an extremist nature may contribute to the incitement of hatred and enmity on national and religious grounds, and violates the rights of a specific group of individuals – the consumers of information services in the Russian Federation. The court accepts the prosecutor’s argument that the dissemination of material of an extremist nature disrupts social stability and creates a threat of damage to the life, health and dignity of individuals, to the personal security of an unidentified group of individuals and disrupts the basis of the constitutional order of the State. Accordingly, the aforementioned activities are against the public interests of the Russian Federation. ... Taking the above-mentioned circumstances into account, the court finds that the prosecutor’s application is substantiated and should be allowed in full.” 77. The third applicant appealed against the decision of 29 November 2012. 78. On 14 December 2012 the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court rejected the third applicant’s appeal against the decision of 20 November 2012 on the grounds that the Code of Civil Procedure did not provide for a possibility to appeal against a decision to deny an application to participate in proceedings. 79. On 30 January 2013 the Moscow City Court dismissed an appeal by the third applicant against the decision of 14 December 2012. It found that under the Code of Civil procedure no appeal lay against a court decision on an application to join proceedings as an interested party. It noted, furthermore, that the applicant would be able to restate her arguments in her appeal against the decision on the merits of the case. 80. On the same date the Moscow City Court left the third applicant’s appeal against the decision of 29 November 2012 without examination. The appellate court stated, inter alia: “... the subject in question was the extremist nature of the information placed in the Internet sources indicated by the prosecutor and the necessity to limit access to them[.] [A]t the same time, the question of [the third applicant’s] rights and obligations was not examined, the impugned decision did not limit her rights, and she was not a party to the proceedings begun upon the prosecutor’s application. Taking into account the foregoing, [the third applicant’s] allegations contained in her appeal statement concerning alleged breaches of procedural rules on account of the failure to allow her to participate in proceedings which violated her rights and legal interests are unfounded and are based on an incorrect interpretation of the rules of procedural law. Therefore ... [the third applicant] has no right to appeal against the above decision.”