Communicated on 9 July 2015
FIRST SECTION
Application no. 32098/13
Mikhail Mikhaylovich BENYASH
against Russia
lodged on 21 April 2013
STATEMENT OF FACTS
1. The applicant, Mr Mikhail Mikhaylovich Benyash, is a Russian national, who was born in 1977 and lives in Sochi.
A. The circumstances of the case
2. The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
3. On 31 August 2011 the Tsentralnyy District Court of Sochi convicted the applicant of extortion and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment conditional on three years’ probation. The applicant was released in the courtroom. On 12 October 2011 the Krasnodar Regional Court upheld the conviction on appeal.
4. On 5 December 2011 the Federal Migration Service denied his application for a travel passport, noting that he had been arrested on 1 September 2010 and that, according to the available information, the criminal proceedings against him were still pending.
5. The applicant applied for judicial review of the refusal.
6. On 28 June 2012 the Tsentralnyy District Court of Sochi upheld the refusal as lawful, finding that the applicant’s right to travel abroad was restricted on the basis of section 15.4 of the Entry and Exit Procedures Act.
7. On 29 November 2012 the Krasnodar Regional Court upheld the District Court’s decision on appeal.
8. On 11 April 2013 the Regional Court refused the applicant leave to appeal to the cassation instance.
B. Relevant domestic law
9. The Entry and Exit Procedures Act (Law no. 114-FZ of 15 August 1996) provides in particular as follows:
10. The right of a Russian citizen to leave the Russian Federation may be restricted only on the basis of the Act and in accordance with the procedure set out therein (section 2).
11. The right of a Russian citizen to leave the Russian Federation may be temporarily restricted if he or she was convicted. The restriction may be imposed until the penalty has been enforced or until the individual was relieved from serving the penalty (section 15.4).
COMPLAINT
12. The applicant complains under Article 2 § 2 of Protocol No. 4 about a restriction on his right to leave Russia.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
In the light of the Court’s findings in the Nalbantski v. Bulgaria judgment (no. 30943/04, 10 February 2011, §§ 66-67), was there a violation of the applicant’s right to leave Russia under Article 2 of Protocol No. 4? Did the domestic authorities examine his individual situation or explain the need to impose such a measure on him?
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