THIRD SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 72692/16
Rafael Nakipovich ZARIPOV
against Russia
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 25 March 2021 as a Committee composed of:
Darian Pavli, President,
Dmitry Dedov,
Peeter Roosma, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 24 September 2016,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant’s details are set out in the appended table.
The applicant’s complaint under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention concerning the excessive length of pre-trial detention was communicated to the Russian Government (“the Government”).
THE LAW
The applicant complained that his pre-trial detention had been unreasonably long. He relied on Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, which read as follows:
Article 5 § 3
“3. Everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 (c) of this Article shall be ... entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial. Release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial.”
The Court observes that the general principles regarding the right to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial, as guaranteed by Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, have been developed in a number of its previous judgments (see, among many other authorities, Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, § 110, ECHR 2000-XI, and McKay v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 543/03, §§ 41-44, ECHR 2006-X, with further references).
Having examined the materials submitted, the Court notes that, while extending the applicant’s detention, the domestic courts relied on the existence of a reasonable suspicion of his involvement in aggravated and violent offences, the complexity of the criminal case against him and the existence of a serious risk of his absconding or interfering with administration of justice, confirmed, inter alia, by the pattern of his behaviour, organised nature of the crimes, extensive connection to the criminal underworld and/or substantial financial resources. The Court is satisfied that the domestic courts cited specific facts in support of their conclusions that the applicant was liable to obstruct justice, to re-offend or to abscond. They also considered a possibility of applying alternative measures to the applicant but found them to be inadequate. The domestic courts duly examined all the pertinent factors and gave “relevant” and “sufficient” reasons to justify the applicant’s continued detention. The Court also finds that the domestic authorities displayed “special diligence” in the conduct of the proceedings (see, for example, Khloyev v. Russia, no. 46404/13, §§ 96-107, 5 February 2015; Topekhin v. Russia, no. 78774/13, 10 May 2016; Sopin v. Russia, no. 57319/10, 18 December 2012; and Isayev v. Russia, no. 20756/04, 22 October 2009).
In view of the above, the Court finds that the applicant’s complaint is manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Declares the application inadmissible.
Done in English and notified in writing on 15 April 2021.
Viktoriya MaradudinaDarian Pavli
Acting Deputy RegistrarPresident
APPENDIX
Application raising complaints under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention
(excessive length of pre-trial detention)
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Period of detention
Court which issued detention order/examined appeal
Length of detention
72692/16
24/09/2016
Rafael Nakipovich ZARIPOV
1983
05/12/2013 to
23/03/2017
Supreme Court of the Tatarstan Republic
3 year(s) and 3 month(s) and 19 day(s)
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy