licant would abscond from the investigation and trial in view of the gravity of the charges against him for offences punishable with long custodial sentences. The courts had also taken into account that the applicant had no permanent place of residence in Russia, that he was an Azeri national and that he had no personal ties or steady income in Russia. Less stringent preventive measures, such as compulsory residence, could not be applied in the absence of any permanent place of residence. Neither would financial sureties, whatever their value, be sufficient for securing the applicant's presence at the trial. Lastly, the applicant's defence allegedly failed even to make a proposal as regards any possible release of the applicant on bail.
144. The applicant disagreed and argued that the detention orders against him lacked sufficient justification and that the only two reasons to leave him in detention were his Azeri nationality and his lack of permanent residence in Russia. The applicant further contended that the court decisions had been poorly reasoned, some of them failing to mention relevant reasons or even any reasons at all. He contested the Government's assertion that his counsel had failed to propose his release on bail. Overall, the applicant argued that the detention decisions had not applied a proper test in considering his requests for release.
2. The Court's assessment
145. The Court observes that the applicant's detention started on 26 February 2004, the date of his arrest, and ended on 14 November 2006, when he was convicted. Thus he spent two years, seven months and twenty one days in detention on remand. The length of the applicant's detention is a matter of concern for the Court. The presumption being in favour of release, the Russian authorities were required to put forward very weighty reasons for keeping the applicant in detention for such a long time.
146. The applicant was apprehended on suspicion of participating in multiple acts of organised armed robbery. The Court is satisfied that this suspicion was reasonable. For an initial period at least, its existence justified the applicant's detention. However, the Court reiterates that the persistence of reasonable suspicion that the person arrested has committed an offence is a condition sine qua non for the lawfulness of the continued detention, but with the lapse of time this no longer suffices. Thus, the Court must establish whether the other grounds given by the judicial authorities continued to justify the deprivation of liberty (see McKay v. the United Kingdom [GC], No. 543/03, § 44, ECHR 2006-...). Where such grounds were "relevant" and "sufficient", the Court must also be satisfied that the national authorities displayed "special diligence" in the conduct of the proceedings.
147. The question whether or not a period of detention is reasonable must be assessed in each case according to its special features; there is no fixed time-frame applicable to each case (see McKay, cited above, § 45). It is essentially on the basis of the reasons given in the domestic courts' decisions and of the well-documented facts stated by the applicant in his appeals that the Court is called upon to decide whether Article 5 § 3 has been complied with. It will therefore examine the reasons given by the Russian courts throughout the period of detention.
148. In its assessment the Court does not lose sight of the fact that after the applicant had been charged in March 2004, further charges were brought in August 2004 on account of various other criminal activities (see paragraph 23 above). However, the Court has repeatedly held that, although the gravity of the charges or the severity of the sentence faced is relevant in the assessment of the risk of an accused absconding, reoffending or obstructing justice, it cannot by itself serve to justify long periods
> 1 2 3 ... 14 15 16 ... 20 21 22
Zaki.ru законы и право
поиск по сайту
каталог документов
добавить сайт Zaki.ru в избранное
Правовые акты международные
Правовые акты Российской Федерации
