FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF MAMONOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 40064/21 and 19 others –
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
28 March 2024
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Mamonov and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Branko Lubarda, President,
Armen Harutyunyan,
Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 7 March 2024,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in applications against Russia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.
2. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.
THE FACTS
3. The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.
4. The applicants complained of the disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies. Some applicants also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.
THE LAW
JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.
JURISDICTION6. The Court observes that the facts giving rise to the alleged violations of the Convention occurred prior to 16 September 2022, the date on which the Russian Federation ceased to be a party to the Convention. The Court therefore decides that it has jurisdiction to examine the present applications (see Fedotova and Others v. Russia [GC], nos. 40792/10 and 2 others, §§ 68‑73, 17 January 2023).
ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 11 OF THE CONVENTION7. The applicants complained principally of disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies, namely their arrest in relation to the dispersal of these assemblies and their conviction for administrative offences. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 11 of the Convention.
8. The Court refers to the principles established in its case-law regarding freedom of assembly (see Kudrevičius and Others v. Lithuania [GC], no. 37553/05, ECHR 2015, with further references) and proportionality of interference with it (see Oya Ataman v. Turkey, no. 74552/01, ECHR 2006‑XIV, and Hyde Park and Others v. Moldova, no. 33482/06, 31 March 2009).
9. In the leading cases of Frumkin v. Russia, no. 74568/12, ECHR 2016 (extracts), Navalnyy and Yashin v. Russia, no. 76204/11, 4 December 2014 and Kasparov and Others v. Russia, no. 21613/07, 3 October 2013, the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.
10. Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion as to the admissibility and merits of these complaints. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the interferences with the applicants’ freedom of assembly were not “necessary in a democratic society”.
11. These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention.
OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW12. Some applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention and its Protocols, given the relevant well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table). These complaints are not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention, nor are they inadmissible on any other ground. Accordingly, they must be declared admissible.
13. Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that these complaints also disclose violations of the Convention and its Protocols in the light of its findings in Butkevich v. Russia, no. 5865/07, §§ 63-65, 13 February 2018, Tsvetkova and Others v. Russia, nos. 54381/08 and 5 others, §§ 115-31, 10 April 2018, and Korneyeva v. Russia, no. 72051/17, §§ 34-36, 8 October 2019, as to various aspects of unlawful deprivation of liberty of organisers or participants of public assemblies; Karelin v. Russia, no. 926/08, §§ 58-85, 20 September 2016, concerning the absence of a prosecuting party in the proceedings under the Code of Administrative Offences (the CAO); and Martynyuk v. Russia, no. 13764/15, §§ 38-42, 8 October 2019, relating to the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal against the sentence of administrative detention.
REMAINING COMPLAINTS14. Some applicants raised further additional complaints under Article 6 of the Convention concerning other aspects of fairness of the administrative‑offence proceedings. In view of the findings in the above paragraphs, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with these remaining complaints.
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION15. Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see in particular Navalnyy and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 25809/17 and 14 others, § 22, 4 October 2022), the Court finds it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.
FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,
Decides to join the applications;Holds that it has jurisdiction to deal with these applications as they relate to facts that took place before 16 September 2022;Declares the complaints under Article 11 of the Convention and the other complaints under the well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, and finds that there is no need to examine separately the remaining complaints under Article 6 of the Convention;Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention;Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention and the Protocols thereto as regards the other complaints raised under the well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table);Holds(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement;
(b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.
Done in English, and notified in writing on 28 March 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Branko Lubarda
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
List of applications raising complaints under Article 11 of the Convention
(disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Name of the public event
Location
Date
Administrative / criminal offence
Penalty
Final domestic decision
Court Name
Date
Other complaints under well-established case-law
Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage per applicant
(in euros)[1]
40064/21
29/07/2021
Ivan Andreyevich MAMONOV
2002
Eysmont Mariya Olegovna
Moscow
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
detention for 10 days
Moscow City Court
04/02/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings;
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report
5,000
48298/21
20/09/2021
Andrey Petrovich GILYUK
1989
Vasin Vladimir Valeryevich
Krasnoyarsk
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Krasnoyarsk
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Krasnoyarsk Regional Court
29/04/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report
4,000
48622/21
20/09/2021
Ivan Sergeyevich PANTYUKOV
1990
Vasin Vladimir Valeryevich
Krasnoyarsk
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Krasnoyarsk
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Krasnoyarsk Regional Court
17/06/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
3,500
48627/21
20/09/2021
Angelina Aleksandrovna NEPOMNYASHCHAYA
1997
Vasin Vladimir Valeryevich
Krasnoyarsk
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Krasnoyarsk
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Krasnoyarsk Regional Court
08/06/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
3,500
49092/21
28/09/2021
Yuliya Pavlovna GONCHAROVA
1995
Memorial Human Rights Centre
Moscow
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Moscow City Court
30/03/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 3.18 p.m. on 31/01/2021 until 8 p.m. on 01/02/2021;
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
49096/21
28/09/2021
Dmitriy Igorevich ZAKHAROV
1997
Memorial Human Rights Centre
Moscow
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Moscow City Court
30/03/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 3.40 p.m. on 31/01/2021 until 7 p.m. on 01/02/2021;
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
49198/21
30/09/2021
Rozaliya Renatovna ILYASOVA
2000
Memorial Human Rights Centre
Moscow
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
23/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 20,000
Moscow City Court
02/04/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 4.30 p.m. on 23/01/2021 until 00.00 a.m. 24/01/2021;
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
49231/21
30/09/2021
Yuriy Aleksandrovich GURIN
1996
Memorial Human Rights Centre
Moscow
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Rostov-on-Don
31/01/2021
article 19.3 § 1 of CAO
detention for 10 days
Rostov Regional Court
12/04/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings;
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 1.45 p.m. on 31/01/2021 until 8 p.m. on 01/02/2021
5,000
49355/21
22/09/2021
Maksim Alekseyevich VLADIMIROV
2000
Memorial Human Rights Centre
Moscow
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Moscow City Court
08/04/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 5.15 p.m. on 31/01/2021 until 3.35 p.m. on 01/02/2021;
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
49479/21
22/09/2021
Ivan Sergeyevich SEMENYUK
1994
Memorial Human Rights Centre
Moscow
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
02/02/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Moscow City Court
02/04/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 11 p.m. on 02/02/2021 until 7 a.m. on 03/02/2021;
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
49673/21
16/09/2021
Robert Rinatovich GAYALIYEV
1991
Nurgaleyev Danil Ilnurovich
Kazan
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Kazan
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
30 hours of community service
Supreme Court of the Tatarstan Republic
24/03/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
49675/21
16/09/2021
Samat Ayratovich GARIPOV
1994
Nurgaleyev Danil Ilnurovich
Kazan
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Kazan
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Supreme Court of the Tatarstan Republic
24/03/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
49718/21
17/09/2021
Leyla Asifovna MAMEDOVA
1995
Kosnyrev Vladislav Vladimirovich
Syktyvkar
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Syktyvkar
23/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 5,000
Supreme Court of the Komi Republic
17/03/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 27/01/2021 for compiling an offence report;
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
49721/21
17/09/2021
Polina Denisovna ANKUDINOVA
2002
Kosnyrev Vladislav Vladimirovich
Syktyvkar
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Syktyvkar
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Supreme Court of the Komi Republic
17/03/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report;
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
49722/21
17/09/2021
Mikhail Ivanovich KUN
1995
Kosnyrev Vladislav Vladimirovich
Syktyvkar
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Syktyvkar
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Supreme Court of the Komi Republic
17/03/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report;
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
4,000
49752/21
16/09/2021
Anton Igorevich YEVDOKIMOV
1988
Memorial Human Rights Centre
Moscow
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
23/01/2021
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
detention for 10 days
Moscow City Court
16/03/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 9.15 p.m. on 23/01/2021 until 2.30 p.m. on 25/01/2021;
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings;
Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO.
5,000
49834/21
16/09/2021
Denis Konstantinovich LUGOVSKIY
1994
Semenov Daniil Aleksandrovich
St Petersburg
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
St Petersburg
23/01/2021
article 20.2 § 2 of CAO
detention for 7 days
St Petersburg City Court
16/03/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 5.30 p.m. on 23/01/2021 until 6 a.m. on 24/01/2021;
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
5,000
49872/21
18/09/2021
Ruslan Yuryevich BONDARENKO
1980
Markin Konstantin Aleksandrovich
Velikiy Novgorod
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
detention for 10 days
Moscow City Court
26/03/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report;
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings;
Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO
5,000
49884/21
28/09/2021
Dmitriy Yuryevich KUZMENKO
1993
Memorial Human Rights Centre
Moscow
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Bryansk
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO, article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
fines of RUB 10,000 and RUB 1,000
Bryansk Regional Court
31/03/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings;
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 1 p.m. on 31/01/2021 until 1 a.m. on 01/02/2021
4,000
49939/21
28/09/2021
Yelizaveta Aleksandrovna PRIKHODKO
2001
Markin Konstantin Aleksandrovich
Velikiy Novgorod
Rally "Free Navalnyy"
Moscow
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Moscow City Court
20/04/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings;
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report
4,000
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.