THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 38057/14
V.K.K.
against Russia
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 11 June 2019 as a Committee composed of:
Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque, President,
Helen Keller,
María Elósegui, judges,
and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 21 May 2014,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
1. The applicant, Mr V.K.K., is a Kyrgyz national, who was born in 1986 and lives in Yekaterinburg. The President granted the applicant’s request for his identity not to be disclosed to the public (Rule 47 § 4). He was represented before the Court by Mr I.G. Vasilyev, lawyer practising in Moscow.
2. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented initially by Mr G. Matyushkin, the Representative of the Russian Federation to the European Court of Human Rights, and then by his successor in that office, Mr M. Galperin.
3. The applicant complained under Article 3 of the Convention that on account of his Uzbek ethnic origin he would run a real risk of ill-treatment in case of his extradition to Kyrgyzstan.
4. On 23 May 2014 the applicant’s request for an interim measure under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court was granted and his removal was stayed for the duration of the proceedings before the Court.
5. The above complaint under Article 3 was communicated to the Government on 10 September 2014. They submitted to the Registry their observations on the admissibility and merits of the application and the applicant submitted his observations in reply.
6. The facts of the case may be summarised as follows.
7. Until 2010 the applicant had been living in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. He arrived in Russia in November 2010.
8. On 14 March 2012 the applicant was charged in absentia with two counts of defrauding a home-appliances shop owner of 30,000 United States dollars (USD) in early 2010. Subsequently, the Kyrgyz authorities ordered his pre-trial detention and issued an international search and arrest warrant bearing his name.
9. On 5 June 2013 the applicant was apprehended in Russia; subsequently, his detention was ordered and extended by the Russian courts.
10. On 5 March 2014 the applicant’s extradition was authorised by the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. Subsequently that decision was upheld by the final judgement of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on 26 May 2014.
11. On 22 February 2019 the applicant’s representative informed the Court that the criminal case against the applicant in Kyrgyzstan was closed. According to the copies of the documents produced by the Kyrgyz authorities the criminal inquiry was terminated on 28 June 2018 due a settlement reached between the victim of the crime and the applicant.
THE LAW
12. The Court notes that the crux of the applicant’s complaint under Article 3 of the Convention was his fear of ill-treatment in case of his extradition and criminal prosecution in Kyrgyzstan. Given that the criminal inquiry in Kyrgyzstan was terminated after the applicant reached a settlement with the victim of the crime, he no longer runs any of the alleged risks.
13. In the light of the foregoing, and in the absence of any special circumstances regarding respect for the rights guaranteed by the Convention or its Protocols, the Court, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application.
14. In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.
15. In accordance with Article 28 § 2 of the Convention, the present decision is final. Accordingly, the Court considers that the measure indicated to the Government under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court comes to an end.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.
Done in English and notified in writing on 4 July 2019.
Fatoş AracıPaulo Pinto de Albuquerque
Deputy RegistrarPresident
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy