EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
FIRST SECTION
CASE OF GAFOROV v. RUSSIA
(Application No. 25404/09)
JUDGMENT <*>
(Strasbourg, 21.X.2010)
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<*> This judgment will become final in the circumstances set out in Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision.
In the case of Gaforov v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:
Christos Rozakis, President,
Nina {Vajic} <*>,
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<*> Здесь и далее по тексту слова на национальном языке набраны латинским шрифтом и выделены фигурными скобками.
Anatoly Kovler,
Elisabeth Steiner,
Khanlar Hajiyev,
Giorgio Malinverni,
George Nicolaou, judges,
and {Andre} Wampach, Section Deputy Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 30 September 2010,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in an application (No. 25404/09) 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 a Tajikistani national, Mr Abdurazok Abdurakhmonovich Gaforov ("the applicant"), on 15 May 2009.
2. The applicant was represented by Ms E. Ryabinina and Mr A. Gaytayev, lawyers practising in Moscow. The Russian Government ("the Government") were represented by Mr G. Matyushkin, the Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights.
3. On 15 May 2009 the President of the First Section decided to apply Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, indicating to the Government that the applicant should not be extradited to Tajikistan until further notice, and granted priority treatment to the application under Rule 41 of the Rules of Court.
4. On 11 September 2009 the President of the First Section decided to give notice of the application to the Government. It was also decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility (Article 29 § 1).
THE FACTS
I. The circumstances of the case
5. The applicant was born in 1973 and lived before his arrest in the town of Khudzhand, Tajikistan. He is currently residing in Moscow.
A. Criminal proceedings against the applicant in Tajikistan
6. In 2005 the applicant lost his job at a telephone exchange in Khudzhand and started earning his living by printing various texts for people on his computer, including theses and extracts from the Koran.
7. In 2005 several persons were arrested in Khudzhand on suspicion of membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir ("HT"), a transnational Islamic organisation, banned in Russia, Germany and some Central Asian republics. Subsequently, the applicant learnt that some of the arrestees had testified before the prosecuting authorities that he was a member of HT and had printed various materials for it from the Internet. The applicant denies being a member of HT.
8. On 16 February 2006 the prosecutor's office of the Sogdiyskiy Region of Tajikistan ("the Sogdiyskiy prosecutor's office") instituted criminal proceedings against the applicant on suspicion of membership of an extremist organisation (Article 307 § 2 of the Tajikistani Criminal Code ("TCC")). In particular, the applicant was suspected of having actively worked with HT by printing out leaflets and religious literature for that organisation with a view to their dissemination. The case was assigned the number 9615.
9. On 19 February 2006 the Sogdiyskiy prosecut
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