Niyazov v. Russia (no. 27843/11) [ Articles 3, 13 5 § 1,4 ECHR]

The applicant, Akhmadzhon Niyazov, is an Uzbek national who was born in 1961 and, living in Russia since 2009, currently resides in Irkutsk. In March 2010, criminal proceedings were brought against him in Uzbekistan on suspicion of membership of “Wahhabism”, a religious organisation banned in Uzbekistan, and on 29 October 2010 he was arrested in Irkutsk with a view to his extradition.On 20 December 2010 the applicant lodged a request for refugee status in Russia with the Irkutsk FMS on the ground of fear of persecution because of his religious beliefs. The Russian courts eventually rejected the request for his extradition to Uzbekistan and he was released on 29 April 2011. He was arrested again on 4 May 2011 and placed in detention pending administrative removal. The order for his administrative removal from Russia was declared unlawful by the courts on 26 July 2011 and he was released.On 31 October 2011 the applicant was granted temporary asylum in Russia for one year. Mr Niyazov complained in particular that his detention between 29 October 2010 and 29 April 2011, with a view to his extradition, and his detention between 4 May and 26 July 2011, with a view to his administrative removal, had been in violation of Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security). Furthermore, relying on Article 5 § 4 (right to have lawfulness of detention decided speedily by a court), he complained in particular that he had been unable to obtain effective judicial review of his detention pending extradition and that the proceedings concerning the extension of his detention had not been speedy.

The Court found:

- Violation of Article 5 § 1 (detention between 29 October and 27 December 2010)

- No violation of Article 5 § 1 (detention between 27 December 2010 and 29 April 2011)
- No violation of Article 5 § 1 (speediness of proceedings)
- Two violations of Article 5 § 4 (absence of judicial review of Mr Niyazov’s detention between 29 October and 27 December 2010 as well as failure to comply with speediness requirement in appeal proceedings against an extension order)
- No violation of Article 5 § 4 (with regard to the judicial review of Mr Niyazov’s detention after 27 December 2010 and the reasonableness of the interval between review and release)

As concerned the administrative removal proceedings:
- Violation of Article 5 § 1 (detention between 4 May and 26 July 2011)

The Court also awarded: just satisfaction: EUR 10,000 (non-pecuniary damage) and EUR 5,189 (costs and expenses)

For the full text of the judgment please visit: ECtHR: Niyazov v. Russia (no. 27843/11)

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