EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
FIRST SECTION
CASE OF KHODZHAYEV v. RUSSIA
(Application No. 52466/08)
JUDGMENT <*>
(Strasbourg, 12.V.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 Khodzhayev 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,
Dean Spielmann,
Giorgio Malinverni, judges,
and {Soren} Nielsen, Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 22 April 2010,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in an application (No. 52466/08) 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 Tajikistani national, Mr Zikrullokhon Ismatulloyevich Khodzhayev ("the applicant"), on 31 October 2008.
2. The applicant was represented by Mr D. Lomakin, a lawyer practising in Moscow. The Russian Government ("the Government") were represented by Mr G. Matyushkin, Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights.
3. On 3 November 2008 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.
4. On 17 December 2008 the President of the First Section decided to apply Rule 41 of the Rules of Court and to grant priority treatment to the application and 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 § 3).
THE FACTS
I. The circumstances of the case
5. The applicant was born in 1977 and lives in Khunzhand, Tajikistan. He is currently residing in Moscow.
A. The applicant's account of events
1. Background to the case
6. The applicant is a practising Muslim. He states that he has not been a member of any political organisations, including Hizb ut-Tahrir ("HT"), an Islamic organisation banned in Russia, Germany and some Central Asian republics, but has nonetheless been persecuted by the Tajikistani authorities on account of presumed membership of that organisation.
7. By a decision of 22 June 2000 the Ministry of Security of Tajikistan instituted criminal proceedings against the applicant on account of his membership of "the illegal extremist-religious party "Hizb ut-Tahrir". The decision stated that the applicant had committed a number of serious and particularly serious crimes, namely, incitement to overthrow the political regime in Tajikistan and dissemination of material containing incitement to religious hatred. On the same date the Ministry of Security of Tajikistan placed the applicant on a search list, drew up an arrest warrant in his name and suspended the investigation because the applicant's whereabouts were unknown.
8. The applicant fled to Moscow in 2001.
9. Between 27 October and 7 December 2001 the applicant was kept in detention in Russia with a view to his extradition. He was subsequently released because no form
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