CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 2 octobre 2012

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text-align:justify } .s60723A49 { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:39.7pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify } .s81CCF55C { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:17pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-indent:-17pt; text-align:justify } .s48DB3670 { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:36pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s7CB9076 { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:0pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s507451D6 { width:4.53pt; display:inline-block } .s299839C6 { width:212.77pt; display:inline-block } .s115C6F62 { width:5.64pt; display:inline-block } .s7602FED2 { width:18.21pt; display:inline-block } .sC1AC44A4 { width:228.11pt; display:inline-block }     FIRST SECTION             CASE OF ABDULKHAKOV v. RUSSIA   (Application no. 14743/11)                 JUDGMENT     STRASBOURG   2 October 2012   FINAL   11/02/2013   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Abdulkhakov v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Nina Vajić, President,   Anatoly Kovler,   Peer Lorenzen,   Elisabeth Steiner,   Khanlar Hajiyev,   Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos,   Erik Møse, judges, and Søren Nielsen, Section Registrar , Having deliberated in private on 11 September 2012, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in an application (no. 14743/11) against the Russian Federation lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by an Uzbek national, Mr Murodzhon Adikhamzhonovich Abdulkhakov (“the applicant”), on 6 March 2011. 2.     The applicant was represented by Ms E. Ryabinina and Ms   D.   Trenina, a lawyer practising in Moscow. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr G. Matyushkin,   Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights. 3.     The applicant alleged, in particular, that his extradition to Uzbekistan would subject him to the risk of ill-treatment, that his detention pending extradition had been unlawful and that there had been no effective judicial review of his detention. 4 .     On 8 March 2011 the President of the First Section indicated to the respondent Government that the applicant should not be extradited to Uzbekistan until further notice (Rule   39 of the Rules of Court). 5.     On 6 May 2011 the application was communicated to the Government. It was also decided to rule on the admissibility and merits of the application at the same time (Article 29 § 1). THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 6.     The applicant was born in 1979. He is currently in hiding in Tajikistan. A.     The applicant’s background and his arrival in Russia 7.     The applicant lived in the village of Sultanabod in Andijan Region, which is located in the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan. He worked as a carpenter. 8.     The events preceding the applicant’s departure from Uzbekistan, as described by him, may be summarized as follows. 9.     On 25 May 2009 a police station in Khanabad, a neighbouring town, was burnt down. A number of witnesses stated that they had seen a car belonging to a resident of Sultanabod. The owner of the car was arrested. The police found out that he was a practising Muslim and that he regularly went to the mosque. 10.     The imam of the local mosque was arrested, tortured and forced to disclose the names of all those visiting the mosque. In particular, he named Mr K., who taught the Koran. Mr K. was also arrested and tortured. He gave the police the names of his pupils, including the applicant’s name. 11.     The applicant was summoned to the local police station, where he was beaten with the aim of extracting a confession to his involvement in extremist activities. He was, however, released after his relatives had bribed the police. He was then fined for participating in unlawful religious gatherings and for praying outside the mosque. 12.     According to the applicant, all those arrested after the events of 25   May 2009 were convicted of anti-government activities and sentenced to imprisonment. 13.     On 24 August 2009 the applicant left for Kazakhstan. His family, including his parents, one of his brothers, wife and three minor children, remained in Uzbekistan. 14.     On 8 September 2009 the applicant’s house in Sultanabod was searched and a religious book was found. He then received a telephone call from a local police officer, who insisted that he should return to Uzbekistan. 15.     On 4 November 2009 the applicant left Kazakhstan for Russia. He firstly went to the city of Kazan where another of his brothers lived and then, on 8   December 2009, took a train to Moscow. He intended to travel onward to Ukraine, where he wanted to apply for refugee status. B.     Initiation of criminal proceedings against the applicant in Uzbekistan, the applicant’s arrest in Russia and the request for his extradition to Uzbekistan 16.     On 20 September 2009 the Andijan Region Interior Department charged the applicant with participating in an extremist organisation of a religious, separatist or fundamentalist nature (Article 244-2 § 1 of the Uzbek Criminal Code). 17.     On 9 October 2009 the Andijan Town Court ordered the applicant’s arrest. On 13 October 2009 his name was put on the list of wanted persons. 18.     On 24 October 2009 the Andijan Region Interior Department amended the charges against the applicant. He was charged with participating in an extremist organisation of a religious, separatist or fundamentalist nature; smuggling of extremist materials; storing and distributing materials containing religious extremist, separatist and fundamentalist ideas; using religion with the aim of disturbing the public peace and order; disseminating slanderous and damaging insinuations and committing other acts against the established rules of conduct and national security; and calling for the overthrow of the constitutional order of Uzbekistan, the usurpation of power and breach of the territorial integrity of Uzbekistan (the offences contained in Articles 244-2 § 1, 246 § 1, 244-1 §   3, 159 § 3 of the Uzbek Criminal Code). In particular, he was accused of membership of a banned organisation, “jamaat”, which was allegedly disseminating “the separatist, fundamentalist and extremist ideas of Wahhabism”. The members of that organisation were claimed to hold regular religious gatherings and to collect money. The applicant was also accused of smuggling religious books authored by Muhammad Rafiq Kamoliddin and Abduvali Mirzaev, which allegedly “encouraged unconstitutional and anti-government sentiments” and contained “slanderous insinuations alien to traditional Islam”. The Interior Department concluded from the above that, by being a member of a banned religious organisation and by smuggling extremist religious books, the applicant had disseminated the ideas of Wahhabism, called for the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate based on Sharia , and “slandered the democratic system established in the Republic of Uzbekistan”. 19.     On 8 December 2009 the Moscow Interior Department informed the Andijan Region Anti-Terrorism Department that, according to their information, the applicant would arrive in Moscow the next day. In reply, the Andijan Region Anti-Terrorism Department confirmed that the applicant was wanted by the Uzbek authorities on the charge of membership of an extremist organisation of a religious, separatist or fundamentalist nature and that an arrest warrant had been issued in respect of him. It asked the Moscow Interior Department to keep the applicant in custody pending an extradition request, which would be sent without delay. 20.     On 9 December 2009, immediately after his arrival in Moscow, the applicant was arrested. 21.     On 30 December 2009 the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation received a request for the applicant’s extradition from the Prosecutor General of Uzbekistan. The Uzbek prosecutor’s office gave an assurance that the applicant would not be extradited to a third-party State, or prosecuted or punished for any offences committed before extradition and which were not mentioned in the extradition request, without Russia’s consent. It also stated that after serving his sentence he would be free to leave Uzbekistan. 22.     On 31 December 2009, 19 January and 3 February 2010 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Federal Migration Service and the Federal Security Service informed the Prosecutor General that the applicant did not hold Russian citizenship and there were no other obstacles to his extradition to Uzbekistan. 23.     On 5 May 2010 further assurances were given by a Deputy Prosecutor General of Uzbekistan. He gave an undertaking that the applicant would not be subjected to torture, violence or other forms of inhuman or degrading treatment and that the rights of the defence would be respected. He also gave an assurance that the Uzbek authorities had no intention of persecuting the applicant for political motives or on account of his race or religious beliefs. C.     Decisions concerning the applicant’s detention 24 .     On 10 December 2009 the Moskovsko-Ryazanskiy Transport Prosecutor ordered the applicant’s detention. He referred to the arrest warrant issued by the Andijan Town Court, to Article 61 of the 1993 Minsk Convention and to Article 108 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (“CCrP”). 25.     On 18 January 2010 the Moskovsko-Ryazanskiy Transport Prosecutor again ordered the applicant’s detention. He referred to the extradition request received from the Uzbek authorities and relied on Article   466 § 2 of the CCrP. 26 .     On 8 February 2010 the Meshchanskiy District Court of Moscow extended the applicant’s detention until 9 June 2010, referring to Article 109 of the CCrP. On 7 April 2010 the Moscow City Court upheld the decision on appeal. 27.     On 9 June 2010 the Meshchanskiy District Court extended the applicant’s detention until 9 September 2010, referring to Article 109 of the CCrP. On 28 July 2010 the Moscow City Court upheld that decision on appeal. It found, in particular, that the applicant’s detention was in conformity with Article 61 of the 1993 Minsk Convention and Article 466 §   2 of the CCrP. 28 .     On 7 September 2010 the Meshchanskiy District Court ordered a further extension of the applicant’s detention until 9 December 2010. 29 .     The applicant appealed on 9 September 2010. On 1 December 2010 the Moscow City Court rejected his appeal and upheld the decision of 7   September 2010. 30 .     On 8 December 2010 the Moscow City Court extended the applicant’s detention until 9 June 2011 on the grounds that the extradition proceedings against him were still pending. 31 .     On 16 December 2010 the applicant lodged appeal submissions. On 20 January 2011 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation upheld the extension order on appeal. 32 .     On 9 June 2011 the Moskovsko-Ryazanskiy Transport Prosecutor ordered the applicant’s release subject to his lawyer providing a personal guarantee. Relying on Article   109 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (see paragraph 84 below), he found that the maximum detention period permitted under Russian law had expired and that it was not possible to extradite the applicant for the time being due to the indication of an interim measure by the Court. D.     Applications for refugee status and temporary asylum 33.     On 22 December 2009 the applicant applied to the Russian Federal Migration Service (“the FMS”) for refugee status. In particular, he submitted that he was being persecuted in Uzbekistan for his religious beliefs. He feared being tortured with the aim of obtaining a confession to offences he had not committed. 34.     On 13 April 2010 the Moscow Town Department of the FMS rejected his application. 35 .     On 6 September 2010 that decision was confirmed by a deputy head of the FMS. He found that, given that a majority of the population of Uzbekistan was Muslim, the applicant’s persecution for his adherence to Islam was unlikely. Although, according to the information provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Uzbek authorities exercised close control over the religious life of the population, that was justified by their legitimate intention to limit the influence of radical Islamic organisations, such as Jamaat-e-Islami. The FMS had no competence to verify whether the charges brought against the applicant in Uzbekistan were well-founded. It therefore appeared that the application for refugee status had been motivated by the applicant’s wish to avoid criminal liability. As regards the applicant’s allegations of a risk of ill-treatment in Uzbekistan, they could not serve as a basis for granting refugee status. The existence of such a risk, if substantiated, might, however, serve as a basis for granting temporary asylum. 36 .     The applicant challenged that refusal before the Basmanniy District Court of Moscow. He complained that the FMS had presumed him guilty of the offences imputed to him and had disregarded his argument that he was being persecuted for his religious beliefs. He submitted that he had been tortured and fined for praying outside the mosque and that criminal proceedings had been opened against him after a religious book, which had never been declared extremist or banned by the authorities, had been found in his house. He also referred to the case-law of the Court, in particular the cases of Yuldashev v. Russia (no. 1248/09, 8 July 2010), Abdulazhon Isakov v. Russia (no. 14049/08, 8 July 2010), and Karimov v. Russia (no. 54219/08, 29 July 2010) in which the Court had found, in similar circumstances, that the applicants’ forced return to Uzbekistan would give rise to a violation of Article 3 of the Convention. 37.     On 19 November 2010 the Basmanniy District Court confirmed the decision of 6 September 2010. It found that the reasons for the refusal of refugee status advanced by the FMS had been convincing and that the applicant had failed to substantiate his allegation that he had been persecuted for his religious beliefs. 38 .     The applicant appealed. He repeated his arguments advanced before the FMS and the Basmanniy District Court. He also referred to Amnesty International reports describing persecution and ill-treatment of members of minority religious Islamic groups. 39.     On 24 December 2010 the Moscow City Court upheld the judgment of 19 November 2010 on appeal, finding that it had been lawful, well-reasoned and justified. 40.     On 16 June 2011 the applicant applied to the FMS for temporary asylum, referring to the risks of his ill-treatment and persecution for his religious beliefs. 41.     On 13 July 2011 the Moscow Town Department of the FMS rejected his application. It found that the applicant could not be persecuted for his religious beliefs because he belonged to the Sunni branch of Islam, which was the religion followed by 80% of the population of Uzbekistan. The charges brought against him appeared to be well-founded. It was also relevant that the applicant had never applied for a residence or work permit in Russia. There were therefore no grounds for granting temporary asylum to him. 42.     On an unspecified date in October 2011 a deputy head of the FMS quashed the decision of 13 July 2011 and remitted the application for temporary asylum for fresh examination before the Moscow Town Department of the FMS. 43.     It appears that the temporary asylum proceedings are still pending. 44 .     By letter of 18 November 2011, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (“UNHCR”) informed counsel for the applicant that the applicant had been granted mandate refugee status. The UNHCR found that he had a well-founded fear of being persecuted and ill-treated in Uzbekistan for reasons of his religion and imputed political opinion. E.     Decision to extradite the applicant and subsequent appeal proceedings 45.     On 14 May 2010 a deputy Prosecutor General decided to extradite the applicant to Uzbekistan. The prosecutor enumerated the charges against the applicant and found that his actions were punishable under Russian criminal law. An extradition order was granted in respect of attempted overthrow of the constitutional order of Uzbekistan and dissemination of materials presenting a danger to national security and public order. The prosecutor found that the above offences corresponded to the offences of attempted violent overthrow of the government and constitutional order and public incitement to extremist activities, which were proscribed by Russian criminal law. However, the prosecutor refused to extradite the applicant for smuggling of extremist materials because this was not an offence under Russian criminal law and for membership of “Jamaat” because that organisation had never been declared extremist or terrorist in Russia. 46.     The applicant challenged the extradition order before the Moscow City Court. He submitted that the accusations against him were unfounded and he was in fact being persecuted by the Uzbek authorities on account of his religious beliefs. He faced torture and other forms of ill-treatment if extradited to Uzbekistan. It transpired from the reports by the UN agencies and by respected international NGOs that torture was widespread in Uzbekistan and confessions were often extracted from defendants under duress. He also referred to the Court’s case-law, in particular the cases of Ismoilov and Others v. Russia (no. 2947/06, 24 April 2008) and Muminov v. Russia (no. 42502/06, 11 December 2008) concerning extradition to Uzbekistan. 47 .     During the hearing, Ms R., an expert in refugees from Central Asia, testified that charges under Article 159 of the Uzbek Criminal Code (attempted overthrow of the constitutional order of Uzbekistan, usurpation of power and breach of the territorial integrity of Uzbekistan) were in most cases politically motivated. Charges under Article 159 were often brought against individuals criticising the authorities or following religious practices not approved by the State. Such individuals were at a substantially higher risk of ill-treatment. In her opinion, the applicant was being persecuted for his religious beliefs and practices. She had drawn that conclusion, in particular, from the fact that he was being prosecuted for possessing a religious book by Abduvali Mirzaev, a respected imam whose followers were often targeted by the Uzbek authorities. It was significant that the books authored by him were not banned in Uzbekistan or any other country. She also referred to the Court’s case-law establishing that diplomatic assurances were not sufficient to ensure adequate protection against the risk of ill-treatment. 48 .     A witness for the applicant, Mr N., a former investigator in Uzbekistan, testified that ill-treatment was wide-spread in Uzbekistan. Suspects were tortured to obtain confessions and those confessions were subsequently used against them at trial. He also confirmed Ms R.’s statement that charges under Article 159 of the Uzbek Criminal Code were often brought against believers who attended a mosque, prayed or wore a beard. All persons charged under Article 159 were tortured. 49 .     The applicant asked the court to examine the reports about the situation in Uzbekistan by the UN agencies and human rights NGOs and the judgments of the Court. His request was rejected. 50.     During the hearing the applicant also disputed the prosecutor’s finding that the actions imputable to him were punishable under Russian criminal law. He argued that under Russian law only the attempted violent overthrow of the government and the constitutional order was prosecutable, while he had never been accused of resorting to violence. Nor could possession of religious books be characterised as public incitement to extremist activities. 51 .     On 29 December 2010 the Moscow City Court upheld the extradition order. It held that the Uzbek and Russian authorities had followed the extradition procedure set out in applicable international and domestic law. The applicant was charged with offences punishable under Uzbek and Russian criminal law and there was no evidence that he was being persecuted for his political opinions or religious beliefs. The City Court found that the international reports, expert opinions and the Court’s case-law relied upon by the applicant were irrelevant because they described the general situation in Uzbekistan rather than the applicant’s personal circumstances. Mr   N.’s testimony was also irrelevant because it referred to the situation from 1999 to 2002. The Uzbek authorities had given assurances that the applicant would not be tortured. There was no reason to question the validity of those assurances, which had been given by a competent State authority, the Prosecutor General’s office of Uzbekistan. The City Court therefore considered that the assurances were sufficient to exclude any risk of ill-treatment. It further held that the issue of the applicant’s guilt or innocence was not within the scope of the review undertaken by the extraditing authorities. 52.     The applicant appealed. He reiterated his arguments advanced before the Moscow City Court and relied on Article 3 of the Convention. He further submitted that the diplomatic assurances against ill-treatment were unreliable due to the absence of any mechanism of compliance monitoring or any accountability for a breach of such assurances. 53 .     On 14 March 2011 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation rejected his appeal and upheld the decision of 29 December 2010, finding that it had been lawful and justified. It endorsed the City Court’s finding that the international reports on the situation in Uzbekistan were irrelevant because they were not based on “real evidence”. It also found that the diplomatic assurances given by the Uzbek authorities were sufficient to ensure adequate protection against eventual ill-treatment of the applicant because if the assurances in respect of the applicant were breached, Russia would refuse to extradite other people. Moreover, the applicant had not submitted any evidence that such assurances had been breached in previous cases. F.     The applicant’s abduction and transfer to Tajikistan 54 .     According to the applicant, in the afternoon of 23 August 2011 he met two acquaintances, K. and A., in the centre of Moscow. They were stopped by a policeman who checked their identity documents. 55.     Immediately after that five or six people in plain clothes grabbed them by the arms and forced them into a van. The abductors put black plastic bags on their heads and laid them on the floor of the van. 56.     By about 4 p.m. they arrived at a forest outside Moscow. They were then beaten and threatened with a gun. Their hands were burnt using a lighter. 57.     At sunset they were handcuffed, forced into the van and brought to an airport by 1 a.m. on 24 August 2011. They drove directly into the airfield and parked near an airplane. They were then placed onboard the airplane, accompanied by two guards. The passengers boarded afterwards. The airplane took off at 1.40 a.m. and landed in the city of Khujand in Tajikistan three-and-a-half hours later. 58.   At Khujand Airport the applicant, K. and A. were handed over to Tajik policemen. Black plastic bags were again put on their heads and they were then separated and placed in different cars. 59.     The applicant was taken to a police station in Khujand, where he remained for three days. He was ill-treated and required to give evidence against K. The police officers threatened to tie him up and throw him into a river, stating that nobody knew that he was in Tajikistan because he had not been checked in for the flight. 60.     On 26 August 2011 the applicant was taken to Dushanbe. He was taken to a police station, where he was questioned. On the next day he was placed in a temporary detention centre, where he remained until 2   September 2011. 61 .     On 30 August 2011 the Shokhmansurskiy District Court ordered the applicant’s detention pending extradition to Uzbekistan. 62.     On 2 September 2011 the applicant was transferred to remand centre no. 1 in Dushanbe. 63.     On 22 November 2011 the applicant was told that a court had ordered his release. He was released the next day. 64.     A certificate issued by the Ministry of Justice of Tajikistan states that the applicant had “served his prison sentence” from 27   August to 22   November 2011. 65 .     The applicant has been in hiding ever since. Intending to return to Russia, he asked the UNHCR to assist him with recovering his national passport, which had been retained by the FMS in Moscow. G.     Official inquiry into the applicant’s abduction 66.     On an unspecified date an investigator of the Investigations Committee of the Zamoskvoretskiy District of Moscow opened an inquiry into the circumstances of the applicant’s abduction. 67.     On 20 January 2012 the investigator refused to open criminal proceedings into the incident. 68.     On 26 March 2012 the acting head of the Zamoskvoretskiy District Investigations Committee quashed the decision of 20 January 2012 and ordered an additional inquiry. He found that it was necessary to question counsel for the applicant and to obtain information about the applicant’s crossing of the Russian border. 69 .     The inquiry was resumed. On unspecified dates between 26 March and 5 April 2012 the investigator ordered that the local police should search for witnesses to the applicant’s abduction. In the same period he also sent inquiries for information about the applicant to the Federal Security Service, the local office of the Transport Department of the Interior Ministry, the FMS, the State Border Control Office in Domodedovo Airport, and other state agencies. 70.     It appears that the inquiry is pending. II.     RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC LAW AND PRACTICE A.     Extradition proceedings 1.     The Code of Criminal Procedure 71.     Chapter 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (“CCrP”) of 2002 governs the procedure to be followed in the event of extradition. 72.     An extradition decision made by the Prosecutor General may be challenged before a court (Article 463 § 1). In that case the extradition order should not be enforced until a final judgment is delivered (Article 462 § 6). 73.     A court is to review the lawfulness and validity of a decision to extradite within a month of receipt of a request for review. The decision should be taken in open court by a panel of three judges in the presence of a prosecutor, the person whose extradition is sought and the latter’s legal counsel (Article 463 § 4). 74.     Issues of guilt or innocence are not within the scope of judicial review, which is limited to an assessment of whether the extradition order was made in accordance with the procedure set out in applicable international and domestic law (Article 463 § 6). 75 .     Article 464 § 1 lists the conditions under which extradition cannot be authorised. Thus, the extradition of the following should be denied: a Russian citizen (Article 464 § 1 (1)) or a person who has been granted asylum in Russia (Article 464 § 1 (2)); a person in respect of whom a conviction has become effective or criminal proceedings have been terminated in Russia in connection with the same act for which he or she has been prosecuted in the requesting State (Article 464 § 1 (3)); a person in respect of whom criminal proceedings cannot be launched or a conviction cannot become effective in view of the expiry of the statute of limitations or under another valid ground in Russian law (Article 464 § 1 (4)); or a person in respect of whom extradition has been blocked by a Russian court in accordance with the legislation and international treaties of the Russian Federation (Article 464 §   1 (5)). Finally, extradition should be denied if the act that serves as the basis for the extradition request does not constitute a criminal offence under the Russian Criminal Code (Article 464 § 1 (6)). 76 .     In the event that a foreign national whose extradition is being sought is being prosecuted or is serving a sentence for another criminal offence in Russia, his extradition may be postponed until the prosecution is terminated, the penalty is lifted on any valid ground or the sentence is served (Article 465 § 1). 2.     Decisions of the Russian Supreme Court 77.     In its ruling no.   11 of 14 June 2012, the Plenary Session of the Russian Supreme Court indicated, with reference to Article 3 of the Convention, that extradition should be refused if there were serious reasons to believe that the person might be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment in the requesting country. Extradition could also be refused if exceptional circumstances disclosed that it might entail a danger to the person’s life and health on account of, among other things, his or her age or physical condition. Russian authorities dealing with an extradition case should examine whether there were reasons to believe that the person concerned might be sentenced to the death penalty, subjected to ill-treatment or persecuted because of his or her race, religious beliefs, nationality, ethnic or social origin or political opinions. The courts should assess both the general situation in the requesting country and the personal circumstances of the person whose extradition was sought. They should take into account the testimony of the person concerned and that of any witnesses, any assurances given by the requesting country, and information about the country provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by competent United Nations institutions and by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. B.     Detention pending extradition and judicial review of detention 1.     The Russian Constitution 78.     The Constitution guarantees the right to liberty (Article 22): “1.     Everyone has the right to liberty and personal integrity. 2.     Arrest, placement in custody and detention are only permitted on the basis of a judicial decision. Prior to a judicial decision, an individual may not be detained for longer than forty-eight hours.” 2.     The 1993 Minsk Convention 79 .     The CIS Convention on legal assistance and legal relations in civil, family and criminal cases (“the Minsk Convention”), to which both Russia and Uzbekistan are parties, provides that in executing a request for legal assistance, the requested party applies its domestic law (Article 8 § 1). 80.     A request for extradition must be accompanied by a detention order (Article 58 § 2). Upon receipt of a request for extradition, measures should be taken immediately to find and arrest the person whose extradition is sought, except in cases where that person cannot be extradited (Article 60). 81.     A person whose extradition is sought may be arrested before receipt of a request for his or her extradition. In such cases a special request for arrest containing a reference to the detention order and indicating that a request for extradition will follow must be sent (Article 61 § 1). A person may also be arrested in the absence of such a request if there are reasons to suspect that he has committed, in the territory of the other Contracting Party, an offence for which extradition may be requested. The other Contracting Party must be immediately informed of the arrest (Article 61 § 2). 82.     A person arrested pursuant to Article 61 must be released if no request for extradition is received within forty days of the arrest (Article 62 § 1). 3.     The Code of Criminal Procedure 83.   The term “court” is defined by the CCrP as “any court of general jurisdiction which examines a criminal case on the merits and delivers decisions provided for by this Code” (Article 5 § 48). The term “judge” is defined by the CCrP as “an official empowered to administer justice” (Article 5 § 54). 84 .     Chapter 13 of the CCrP (“Measures of restraint”) governs the use of measures of restraint, or preventive measures ( меры пресечения ), while criminal proceedings are pending. Such measures include placement in custody. Custody may be ordered by a court on an application by an investigator or a prosecutor if a person is charged with an offence carrying a sentence of at least two years’ imprisonment, provided that a less restrictive measure of restraint cannot be used (Article 108 §§ 1 and 3). A period of detention pending investigation may not exceed two months (Article 109 § 1). A judge may extend that period up to six months (Article 109 § 2). Further extensions of up to twelve months, or in exceptional circumstances, up to eighteen months, may only be granted if the person is charged with serious or particularly serious criminal offences (Article 109 §   3). No extension beyond eighteen months is permissible and the detainee must be released immediately (Article 109 § 4). If the grounds serving as the basis for a preventive measure have changed, the preventive measure must be cancelled or amended. A decision to cancel or amend a preventive measure may be taken by an investigator, a prosecutor or a court (Article   110). 85.     Chapter 16 (“Complaints about acts and decisions by courts and officials involved in criminal proceedings”) provides for the judicial review of decisions and acts or failures to act by an investigator or a prosecutor that are capable of adversely affecting the constitutional rights or freedoms of the parties to criminal proceedings (Article 125 § 1). The competent court is the court with territorial jurisdiction over the location at which the preliminary investigation is conducted (ibid.). 86 .     Chapter 54 (“Extradition of a person for criminal prosecution or execution of sentence”) regulates extradition procedures. Upon receipt of a request for extradition not accompanied by an arrest warrant issued by a foreign court, a prosecutor must decide on the measure of restraint in respect of the person whose extradition is sought. The measure must be applied in accordance with established procedure (Article 466 § 1). If a request for extradition is accompanied by an arrest warrant issued by a foreign court, a prosecutor may impose house arrest on the individual concerned or place him or her in detention “without seeking confirmation of the validity of that order from a Russian court” (Article 466 § 2). 4.     Relevant case-law of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts of Russia 87.     On 4 April 2006 the Constitutional Court examined an application by Mr   N., who had submitted that the lack of any limitation in time on the detention of a person pending extradition was incompatible with the constitutional guarantee against arbitrary detention. In its decision no. 101-O of the same date, the Constitutional Court declared the application inadmissible. In its view, the absence of any specific regulation of detention matters in Article 466 § 1 did not create a legal lacuna incompatible with the Constitution. Article 8 § 1 of the Minsk Convention provided that, in executing a request for legal assistance, the requested party would apply its domestic law, which in the case of Russia was the procedure laid down in the CCrP. Such procedure comprised, in particular, Article 466 §   1 of the Code and the norms in its Chapter 13 (“Measures of restraint”) which, by virtue of their general character and position in Part I of the Code (“General provisions”), applied to all stages and forms of criminal proceedings, including proceedings for the examination of extradition requests. Accordingly, Article 466 § 1 of the CCrP did not allow the authorities to apply a custodial measure without complying with the procedure established in the CCrP or the time-limits fixed in the Code. The Court also refused to analyse Article 466 § 2, finding that it had not been applied in Mr N.’s case. 88 .     On 1 March 2007 the Constitutional Court in its decision no. 333-O-P held that Articles 61 and 62 of the Minsk Convention, governing a person’s detention pending the receipt of an extradition request, did not determine the body or official competent to order such detention, the procedure to be followed or any time-limits. In accordance with Article 8 of the Minsk Convention, the applicable procedures and time-limits were to be established by domestic legal provisions. 89 .     The Constitutional Court further reiterated its settled case-law to the effect that the scope of the constitutional right to liberty and personal inviolability was the same for foreign nationals and stateless persons as for Russian nationals. A foreign national or stateless person may not be detained in Russia for more than forty-eight hours without a judicial decision. That constitutional requirement served as a guarantee against excessively long detention beyond forty-eight hours, and also against arbitrary detention, in that it required a court to examine whether the arrest was lawful and justified. The Constitutional Court held that Article   466 § 1 of the CCrP, read in conjunction with the Minsk Convention, could not be construed as permitting the detention of an individual for more than forty-eight hours on the basis of a request for his or her extradition without a decision by a Russian court. A custodial measure could be applied only in accordance with the procedure and within the time-limits established in Chapter 13 of the CCrP. 90 .     On 19 March 2009 the Constitutional Court by its decision no. 383-O-O dismissed as inadmissible a request for a review of the constitutionality of Article   466 § 2 of the CCrP, stating that this provision “does not establish time-limits for custodial detention and does not establish the grounds and procedure for choosing a preventive measure, it merely confirms a prosecutor’s power to execute a decision already delivered by a competent judicial body of a foreign state to detain an accused. Therefore the disputed norm cannot be considered to violate the constitutional rights of [the claimant] ...” 91.     On 10 February 2009 the Plenary Session of the Russian Supreme Court adopted Directive Decision No.1, stating that a prosecutor’s decision to hold a person under house arrest or to remand him or her in custody with a view to extradition could be appealed against to a court under Article 125 of the CCrP. 92 .     On 29 October 2009 the Plenary Session of the Russian Supreme Court adopted Directive Decision No.   22, stating that, pursuant to Article 466 § 1 of the CCrP, only a court could order placement in custody of a person in respect of whom an extradition check was pending when the authorities of the country requesting extradition had not submitted a court decision to place her in custody. The judicial authorisation of placement in custody in that situation was to be carried out in accordance with Article 108 of the CCrP and following a prosecutor’s petition to place that person in custody. In deciding to remand a person in custody, a court was to examine if there existed factual and legal grounds for applying the preventive measure. If the extradition request was accompanied by a detention order of a foreign court, a prosecutor was entitled to remand the person in custody without a Russian court’s authorisation (Article 466 § 2 of the CCrP) for a period not exceeding two months, and the prosecutor’s decision could be challenged in the courts under Article 125 of the CCrP. In extending a person’s detention with a view to extradition a court was to apply Article 109 of the CCrP. 93 .     In its recent ruling no.   11 of 14 June 2012, the Plenary Session of the Russian Supreme Court held that a person whose extradition was sought might be detained before the receipt of an extradition request only in cases specified in international treaties to which Russia was a party, such as Article   61 of the Minsk Convention. Such detention should be ordered and extended by a Russian court in accordance with the procedure, and within the time-limits, established by Articles 108 and 109 of the CCrP. The detention order should mention the term for which the detention or extension was o