European Court of Human Rights

FIRST SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 34631/06
Sergey Vladimirovich MATVEYEV
against Russia
lodged on 18 July 2006

The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting on 14 February 2012 as a Committee composed of:

Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska, President,
Anatoly Kovler,
Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, judges,
and André Wampach, Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 18 July 2006,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant is a Russian national who was born in 1972 and is currently serving a sentence of imprisonment in penitentiary facility IK-4 of the Ivanovo Region.

The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

On 29 April 2005 the police instituted criminal proceedings on suspicion of having attempted to bribe a police officer and to organise an insurance fraud and arrested the applicant in this connection.

On 30 April 2005 the criminal proceedings in part concerning the insurance fraud was discontinued.

On 6 May 2005 the authorities brought charges against the applicant in connection with the bribing episode.

Between 23 June and 20 July 2005 the applicant studied the case.

By judgment of 28 November 2005 the District Court examined the applicant’s criminal charges, having found him guilty and sentenced to three years of imprisonment. On 2 March 2006 Regional Court upheld the judgment of 28 November 2005.

The applicant submitted that his conditions of the detention pending the criminal proceedings had been appalling.

Between 29 and 30 April 2005 the applicant was held in a cell of the Temporary Detention Ward of the Ivanovo Regional Department of the Interior.

As of 30 April 2005 the applicant has been transferred to IZ-1 of the town of Ivanovo.

THE LAW

On 6 December 2010 the President of the Court gave notice of the application to the respondent Government under Rule 54 § 2 (c) of the Rules of Court. The Government submitted their observations on the admissibility and merits of the case on 4 April 2011.

By letter of 12 April 2011 the applicant was requested to submit, by 14 June 2011, his comments on the Government’s observations.

As the applicant had not replied, by letter of 12 October 2011, sent by registered mail, his attention was drawn to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, which provides that the Court can strike a case out of its list where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that an applicant does not intend to pursue the application.

The Court notes that, despite the Court’s letters of 12 April 2011 and 12 October 2011, the applicant has not submitted his observations in reply to those of the Government. Nor has he made any other submissions to the Court.

Against this background, the Court considers that, in these circumstances, the applicant may be regarded as no longer wishing to pursue his application, within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 in fine, the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which require the continued examination of the case.

In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.

André Wampach Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska
Deputy Registrar President