cluded from all or part of the trial in the interests of morals, public order or national security in a democratic society, where the interests of juveniles or the protection of the private life of the parties so require, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice."
A. Admissibility
18. The Government considered that the applicant had introduced his complaint out of time and it should be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 1 of the Convention. In particular, they noted that the Court's stamp on the application form did not indicate the date of its receipt by the Court.
19. The applicant contested the Government's allegations. He submitted that his initial application form had been dispatched on his behalf by the International Protection Centre on 19 March 2003, as indicated by the postmark.
20. The Court observes that is not disputed by the parties that the final decision in respect of the applicant's complaint within the meaning of Article 35 § 1 of the Convention was taken by the Supreme Court of Russia on 2 October 2002. The Court further observes that, pursuant to the legible post mark on the envelope containing the applicant's application form, it was dispatched on 19 March 2003, that is five and a half months after the final decision on the matter.
21. Having regard to the above, the Court concludes that, by introducing the complaint about the lack of a public hearing on 19 March 2003, the applicant had complied with the six-month rule, and the complaint cannot be rejected pursuant to Article 35 § 4 of the Convention. The Court further notes that the complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention and that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible.
B. Merits
1. The parties' submissions
22. The Government considered that the trial court's decision to close the hearing of the applicant's case had been justified and in accordance with the applicable domestic rules of criminal procedure. It had been necessary in order to ensure the safety of all parties to the proceedings and to prevent disclosure of information concerning the private life of an alleged rape victim and the relatives of the alleged rapist murdered by the applicant's co-accused. The applicant had had access to all materials in the case file. All the guarantees of a fair trial had been respected. The applicant had been represented. He had had an opportunity to call witnesses on his behalf. The proceedings had been adversarial. It was not disputed by the applicant that the trial court had been independent and impartial. The verdict was pronounced publicly. In their additional observations they submitted that, by deciding to hold the trial at the remand prison, the trial court had removed the risk an assassination attempt might pose to the people of the residential area in the close proximity to the court-house. It had also excluded the possibility of the assassination of the accused while being transported to and from the court-house.
23. The applicant considered that the trial court's decision to dispense with a public hearing of his case had been in contravention of domestic laws. He further reasoned that the domestic judicial authorities had failed to strike a balance between his right to a public trial and the protection of other interests at stake, namely security of the courtroom and prevention of disclosure of information concerning private life. He believed that the trial court could have employed alternative measures to ensure security and to ensure that there were no weapons in the courtroom. He further noted that the law expressly provided that the court bailiffs were
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