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European Court of Human Rights
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> ABROSIMOVA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA - 33196/22 (Article 11 - Freedom of assembly and association : Second Section Committee) [2024] ECHR 212 (14 March 2024)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2024/212.html
Cite as: [2024] ECHR 212
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SECOND SECTION
CASE OF ABROSIMOVA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA
(Applications nos. 33196/22 and 29 others -
see appended list)
JUDGMENT
STRASBOURG
14 March 2024
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Abrosimova and Others v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
Lorraine Schembri Orland, President,
Frédéric Krenc,
Davor Derenčinović, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 15 February 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 APPLICATIONS
5. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.
- JURISDICTION
6. 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 CONVENTION
7. 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-LAW
12. 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); 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 COMPLAINTS
14. 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 above, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with these remaining complaints.
- APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION
15. 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 the 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 decides 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 14 March 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
Viktoriya Maradudina Lorraine Schembri Orland
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 charges | Penalty | Final domestic decision Court Name Date | Other complaints under well-established case-law | Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expense per applicant/ household (in euros)[1] |
06/06/2022 | Marina Vladimirovna ABROSIMOVA 1967 | Aleksey Vladimirovich Bushmakov Yekaterinburg | Anti-war protest
Yekaterinburg 26/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | 30 hours of community work | Sverdlovsk Regional Court 27/04/2022 |
| 3,500 | |
06/06/2022 | Viktoriya Vladimirovna DOKUCHAYEVA 2002 | Aleksey Vladimirovich Bushmakov Yekaterinburg | Anti-war protest
Yekaterinburg 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | 35 hours of community work | Sverdlovsk Regional Court 19/05/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 06/03/2022 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 | |
06/06/2022 | Margarita Sergeyevna DOKUCHAYEVA 1982 | Aleksey Vladimirovich Bushmakov Yekaterinburg | Anti-war protest
Yekaterinburg 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | 30 hours of community work | Sverdlovsk Regional Court 19/05/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 06/03/2022 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 | |
06/06/2022 | Dmitriy Sergeyevich SMIRNOV 1994 | Aleksey Vladimirovich Bushmakov Yekaterinburg | Anti-war protest
Yekaterinburg 26/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 15,000 | Sverdlovsk Regional Court 04/05/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 26/02/2022 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 | |
06/06/2022 | Rustam Aukhatovich KHABIBULIN 1965 | Aleksey Vladimirovich Bushmakov Yekaterinburg | Anti-war protest
Yekaterinburg 26/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | 30 hours of community work | Sverdlovsk Regional Court 11/05/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 26/02/2022 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 | |
27/06/2022 | Danil Mikhitarovich SEMENOV 1994 | Natalya Andreyevna Baranova Moscow | Fair elections rally
Moscow 20/09/2021 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 19/01/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 28/09/2021 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 | |
13/07/2022 | Tatyana Ivanovna YESHCHEULOVA 1961 | Darya Dmitriyevna Aksenova Kolomna | Anti-war protest
Moscow 25/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 13/04/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 25/02/2022 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 | |
13/07/2022 | Leontiy Vladimirovich VLADIMIROV 1992 | Darya Dmitriyevna Aksenova Kolomna | Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO | detention of 10 days | Moscow City Court 14/03/2022 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 5,000 | |
13/07/2022 | Mikhail Aleksandrovich ARANOVSKIY 1984 | Darya Dmitriyevna Aksenova Kolomna | Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO | detention of 12 days | Moscow City Court 14/03/2022 | Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 5,000 | |
26/07/2022 | Aleksandr Yuryevich YARKIN 1996 | Dmitriy Dmitriyevich Miropoltsev Kaltan | Anti-war protest
Rostov-on-Don 06/03/2022 | article 19.3 § 1 of CAO | detention of 15 days | Rostov Regional Court 07/04/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 06/03/2022 until 07/03/2022,
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 | |
19/08/2022 | Aleksandra Alekseyevna ZAPOLINA 2000 |
| Anti-war manifestation
Nizhniy Novgorod 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Nizhniy Novgorod Regional Court 27/04/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 06/03/2022 until 07/03/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings
| 4,000 | |
20/08/2022 | Alena Vladimirovna GLAZER 1986
Yekaterina Vladimirovna GLAZER 1988 |
| Anti-war protest
Perm 24/02/2022
Anti-war protest
Perm 24/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 5,000
20 hours of community work | Perm Regional Court 31/05/2022
Perm Regional Court 18/05/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station twice on 24/02/2022 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in both sets of the administrative-offence proceedings | 4,000 | |
19/08/2022 | Artur Kamilovich SULTANOV 1999 |
| Anti-war protest
Samara 27/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Samara Regional Court 21/04/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 27/02/2022 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 | |
18/08/2022 | Anna Andreyevna ANTASHKEVIC 1996 |
| Anti-war protest
Krasnoyarsk 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Krasnoyarsk Regional Court 18/05/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 06/03/2022 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 | |
19/08/2022 | Darya Andreyevna TEPLOUKHOVA 1995 | Aleksey Vladimirovich Bushmakov Yekaterinburg | Anti-war protest
Yekaterinburg 26/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 12,000 | Sverdlovsk Regional Court 15/06/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 26/02/2022 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 | |
19/08/2022 | Yevgeniya Dmitriyevna AKSENOVA 1995 | Aleksey Vladimirovich Bushmakov Yekaterinburg | Anti-war protest
Yekaterinburg 26/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Sverdlovsk Regional Court 27/04/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 26/02/2022 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 | |
19/08/2022 | Maksim Rustamovich KHABIBULIN 1988 | Aleksey Vladimirovich Bushmakov Yekaterinburg | Anti-war protest
Yekaterinburg 26/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | 35 hours of community work | Sverdlovsk Regional Court 25/05/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 26/02/2022 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 | |
18/08/2022 | Liliya Alekseyevna LEBED 1990 | Aleksey Vladimirovich Bushmakov Yekaterinburg | Anti-war protest
Yekaterinburg 26/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | 30 hours of community work | Sverdlovsk Regional Court 08/06/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 26/02/2022 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 | |
19/08/2022 | Ilya Vasilyevich FEDOROV 2001 | Aleksey Vladimirovich Bushmakov Yekaterinburg | Anti-war protest
Yekaterinburg 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | 30 hours of community work | Sverdlovsk Regional Court 29/06/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 06/03/2022 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 | |
30/08/2022 | Aleksandr Vladimirovich KISELEV 1959 | Darya Dmitriyevna Aksenova Kolomna | Anti-war protest
Moscow 27/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 03/08/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 27/02/2022 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 | |
05/09/2022 | Sergey Alekseyevich SHISHKOV 1984 | Viktor Valeryevich Kochenkov Izhevsk | Anti-war protest
Izhevsk 27/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Supreme Court of the Udmurtia Republic 08/06/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 27/02/2022 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 | |
05/09/2022 | Timur Ilgizovich YAGFAROV 1994 | Viktor Valeryevich Kochenkov Izhevsk | Anti-war protest
Izhevsk 27/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Supreme Court of the Udmurtia Republic 15/06/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 27/02/2022 for compiling an offence report
| 4,000 | |
15/09/2022 | Nina Sergeyevna VASHCHENKO 2001 | Darya Dmitriyevna Aksenova Kolomna | Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 13/07/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 06/03/2022 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 | |
15/09/2022 | Alisa Byern MARK 2001 | Darya Dmitriyevna Aksenova Kolomna | Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 21/07/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 06/03/2022 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 | |
08/09/2022 | Stepan Alekseyevich SEMENOV 1998 | Viktor Valeryevich Kochenkov Izhevsk | Anti-war protest
Izhevsk 24/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Supreme Court of the Udmurtia Republic 15/07/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 24/02/2022 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 | |
10/09/2022 | Roman Nikolayevich VESELKOV 1988 | Viktor Valeryevich Kochenkov Izhevsk | Anti-war protest
Izhevsk 24/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Supreme Court of the Udmurtia Republic 06/06/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 24/02/2022 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 | |
14/10/2022 | Sergey Alekseyevich IVANOV 1992 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 24/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 15/06/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 24/02/2022 until 25/02/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings | 4,000 | |
23/10/2022 | Valeriya Gavrilovna DANILOVA 2001 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 20,000 | Moscow City Court 23/06/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 06/03/2022 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 | |
12/10/2022 | Svetlana Anatolyevna VISELSKAYA 1984 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 26/02/2022 | article 20.2 § 5 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 15/06/2022 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 26/02/2022 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 | |
07/08/2023 | Nikolay Konstantinovich GAVRILOV 1992 |
| Anti-war protest
Moscow 06/03/2022 | article 20.2 § 8 of CAO | fine of RUB 10,000 | Moscow City Court 07/04/2023 | Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 06/03/2022 until 07/03/2022
| 4,000 |
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.