Published on 5 February 2024
SECOND SECTION
Application no. 15013/18
Gulmira Urazbayevna MULDAGALIYEVA against Russia
and 8 other applications
(see list appended)
PROCEDURAL INFORMATION
Following a preliminary examination of the admissibility of the applications on 11 January 2024, the Court decided, under Rule 54 § 2 (b) of the Rules of Court, that notice of the applications should be given to the Government of Russia.
In the applications marked by an asterisk, other complaints were raised. This part of the applications has been struck out of the Court’s list of cases or declared inadmissible by the Court, sitting in a single-judge formation, assisted by a rapporteur as provided for in Article 24 § 2 of the Convention.
In the enclosed list of applications, whenever an applicant is referred to using initials, this indicates that the Court has authorised anonymity for that person, whose identity will not be disclosed to the public (Rule 47 § 4).
For further information on the procedure following communication of an application brought against Russia, subject of well-established case law of the Court, please refer to the Court’s website.
SUBJECT MATTER
The applications concern complaints raised under Article 8 § 1 of the Convention relating to unlawful search which are the subject of well‑established case law of the Court (see Misan v. Russia, no. 4261/04, 2 October 2014 and Kruglov and Others v. Russia, nos. 11264/04 and 15 others, 4 February 2020).
APPENDIX – STATEMENT OF FACTS
List of applications raising complaints under Article 8 § 1 of the Convention
(unlawful search)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Type of search
Premises
Date of the search authorisation
Name of issuing authority
Date of the search
Means of exhaustion
Specific defects
Other relevant information
Other complaints under well‑established case-law
15013/18*
14/03/2018
Gulmira Urazbayevna MULDAGALIYEVA
1982
Vitaliy Viktorovich Kulapov
Moscow
Inspection of the applicant’s flat under the Law on Operative and Investigative Activities
14/09/2017, Saratov Regional Court
15/09/2017,
Frunzenskiy District Court of Saratov, 23/10/2017;
Saratov Regional Court, 13/12/2017
no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: applicant not a suspect, no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion)
43810/19
05/08/2019
Svetlana Vladimirovna PROKOPYEVA
1979
Denis Nikolayevich KAMALYAGIN
1985
Tumas Arsenovich Misakyan
Moscow
(1) Search of the first applicant’s flat was conducted within the framework of the criminal proceedings against her;
(2) Urgent search of the first applicant’s house within the framework of the criminal proceedings against unidentified persons on the charges of extremism,
(3) Urgent search of the second applicant’s flat within the framework of the criminal proceedings against unidentified persons on the charges of extremism
(1) 06/02/2019, Pskov Town Court
(2) 18/03/2022, Pskov Town Police Investigator
(3) 18/03/2022, Pskov Town Police Investigator
(1) 06/02/2019,
Pskov Regional Court, 03/04/2019
(2) 18/03/2022, Pskov Town Court, 20/03/2022, Pskov Regional Court, 27/04/2022
(3) 18/03/2022,
Pskov Town
Court, 20/03/2022,
Pskov Regional Court, 27/04/2022
no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion), no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: no evidence supporting the search authorisation, no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: no reasonable suspicion as the basis for the search authorisation
(1) On 05/02/2019 the investigator with the regional investigative committee opened a criminal case against the applicant on the charge of public calls to justify terrorism in connection with the applicant’s publication and podcast;
(2) and (3) The criminal case was opened in response to a publication on Internet allegedly discrediting Mr V.
Art. 10 (1) - Freedom of expression - The applicants, journalists, complain that the searches were in violation of Article 10 (see, among other authorities, Nagla v. Latvia)
34276/20*
04/08/2020
Rustam Ratmirovich ISKHAKOV
1996
Igor Olegovich Markelov
Moscow
Urgent search of the applicant’s flat
15/02/2020, Investigator, District Department of the Interior; the search order was authorised by the Babushkinskiy District Court of Moscow on 21/02/2020
15/05/2020, final decision on the matter was taken by the Moscow City Court on 19/05/2020
no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion), no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: no reasonable suspicion as the basis for the search authorisation, no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: applicant not a suspect
9637/21*
28/01/2021
Yevgeniya Andreyevna SANINA
1983
urgent search of the applicant’s flat
13/08/2019, senior investigator, authorised by the Presnenskiy District Court of Moscow on 12/10/2020
14/08/2019, upheld on appeal by the Moscow City Court on 16/12/2020
no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion), no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: applicant not a suspect
The search was conducted within the framework of the criminal proceedings against third parties on the charges of illegal banking activities conducted by an organised group; the applicant knew the alleged perpetrators
40145/21
23/07/2021
Petr Yuryevich VERZILOV
1987
Leonid Alekseyevich Solovyev
Moscow
Urgent search of the applicant’s flat in connection with criminal investigation in respect of unidentified organisers of mass protest and unrest
21/06/2020, senior investigator with the investigative committee; upheld by the Basmannyy District Court of Moscow on 02/02/2021
21/06/2020; upheld on appeal by the Moscow City Court on 07/04/2021
no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion), no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: applicant not a suspect
On 07/07/2020 the applicant was charged with failure to report a dual nationality to the Russian migration service
46776/21*
10/09/2021
Ivan Yuryevich PAVLOV
1971
Karinna Akopovna Moskalenko
Strasbourg
Search of the applicant’s flat and offices; search of the hotel room where the applicant stayed
27/04/2021 and 29/04/2021, Basmannyy District Court of Moscow
30/04/2021, the relevant search orders were upheld on appeal by the Moscow City Court on 07/07/2021 and 08/07/2021
no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion), no special safeguards for lawyers: no presence of independent observers, no special safeguards for lawyers: no special instructions by a judge regarding privileged materials
The applicant, a practising attorney, was charged with having divulged the classified information pertaining to the criminal investigation in respect of one of his clients
57274/21*
17/11/2021
Svetlana Nikolayevna KOVALETS
1973
Vitaliy Viktorovich Cherkasov
St Petersburg
Search of the applicant’s flat
06/02/2021, investigator’s decision (urgent search)
06/02/2021, lawfulness of the decision confirmed by domestic courts upon the applicant’s appeal (final decision of the St Petersburg City Court on 27/05/2021)
no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion), no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: applicant not a suspect, no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: no reasonable suspicion as the basis for the search authorisation
57897/21*
13/11/2021
Tatyana Ivanovna LEYSHA
1955
Vitaliy Viktorovich Cherkasov
St Petersburg
Search of the flat within the framework of the criminal proceedings against unidentified persons; urgent search
31/01/2021, Senior investigator, department of the Ministry of the Interior
31/01/2021; Kuybyshevskiy District Court of St Petersburg, 02/02/2022; St Petersburg City Court, 24/05/2021
no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion), no relevant or sufficient reasons to justify the search: applicant not a suspect
14626/22*
20/02/2022
Household
Ernest Aleksandrovich MEZAK
1976
Irina Vladimirovna KHARIONOVSKAYA
1976
Kristina Ernestovna MEZAK
2005
NIkolay Ernestovich MEZAK
2002
Nina Vasilyevna MEZAK
1951
Aleksey Nikolayevich Laptev
Moscow
Search of the flat
25/06/2021, Syktyvdinskiy District Court of the Republic of Komi
26/06/2021, the Supreme Court of the Komi Republic upheld the search order on appeal on 20/08/2021
no adequate and sufficient safeguards against abuse: broad terms/wide content and scope of the search warrant (objects and documents not specific enough to restrict police’s discretion)
The search was conducted within the framework of the criminal proceedings against the first applicant charged with contempt of the court