EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
FIRST SECTION
CASE OF PAKHOMOV v. RUSSIA
(Application No. 44917/08)
JUDGMENT <*>
(Strasbourg, 30.IX.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 Pakhomov 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 {Soren} Nielsen, Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 9 September 2010,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in an application (No. 44917/08) 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 Russian national, Mr Anton Valeryevich Pakhomov ("the applicant"), on 21 July 2008.
2. The applicant, who had been granted legal aid, was represented by Mr S. Onishchenko, a lawyer practising in Vladivostok. 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 conviction for drug trafficking had been based on statements by an anonymous witness and prosecution witnesses whom he had been unable to confront in open court. In addition, in a letter of 9 June 2009 requesting priority treatment for his application, the applicant complained of serious deterioration of his health in view of the absence of adequate medical assistance.
4. Further to the applicant's request, on 16 June 2009 the Court granted priority to the application (Rule 41 of the Rules of Court).
5. On 23 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
6. The applicant was born in 1980 and lives in the town of Artyom, Primorye Region.
A. Criminal proceedings against the applicant
7. On 27 April 2007 a group of police officers entered the applicant's flat, intending to search it. The applicant, who had been offered the opportunity to hand over any illegal substances before the search, handed the police officers 2.5 grams of tobacco and marijuana compound. No other illegal substances or money were found during the subsequent search of the flat carried out by the police. The applicant was arrested and taken to the Artyom town temporary detention centre, where a police investigator, Mr S., informed him that he had been arrested on suspicion of selling drugs to an anonymous person, whom the police called Mr I., during a police-controlled purchase on 27 February 2007. The investigator also notified the applicant of an identification parade scheduled for the following day, in which Mr I. was to participate.
8. On 28 April 2007 the applicant was taken to the Artyom Town Department of the Federal Service for Drug Control where he remained handcuffed to a heating device for several hours. The identific
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