the court as early as November 2001, the selection of the lay judges for the hearing of the applicant's case was conducted a year later, on 11 November 2002.
113. The Court further observes that on 5 August 2002 the proceedings were suspended in view of the necessity to search for one of the applicant's co-defendants. Four months later, on 15 December 2002 the proceedings were resumed despite the fact that the search had yielded no results. It appears that nothing precluded the domestic court from starting the trial four months earlier in the absence of the applicant's co-defendant, and the delay in question should, therefore, be also attributed to the domestic authorities. Another delay, amounting to five months, for which the domestic authorities can be held responsible, occurred from 30 April 2004 when the trial court pronounced the judgment until the appeal hearing of 30 September 2004.
114. Having regard to the foregoing, and especially to what was at stake for the applicant, given that he had been held in detention throughout the whole period while the proceedings were pending, the Court considers that the length of the proceedings in the present case did not satisfy the "reasonable time" requirement.
115. There has accordingly been a breach of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.
V. Other alleged violations of the Convention
116. Lastly, the applicant complained under Article 3 that he had been intimidated by police officers following his arrest, under Article 6 that the trial court had admitted allegedly unreliable evidence, that the court had failed to obtain the attendance of two defence witnesses and that his request to postpone the pleadings had been refused. He further complained under Article 8 that the inquiry into his long-distance calls at the stage of the pre-trial investigation had been unlawful.
117. However, having regard to all the material in its possession, and in so far as these complaints fall within its competence, the Court finds that they do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms set out in the Convention or its Protocols. It follows that this part of the application must be rejected as being manifestly ill-founded, pursuant to Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
VI. Application of Article 41 of the Convention
118. Article 41 of the Convention provides:
"If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party."
A. Damage
119. The applicant claimed 250,000 euros (EUR) in respect of non-pecuniary damage.
120. The Government submitted that the claim was excessive and that it contradicted the Court's case-law.
121. The Court notes that it has found a combination of serious violations in the present case. The applicant spent over four years in custody, his detention was not based on sufficient grounds; it was excessively long and partly unlawful. He was also denied the right to a trial within a reasonable time by a tribunal established by law. In these circumstances, the Court considers that the applicant's suffering and frustration cannot be compensated for by a mere finding of a violation. Making its assessment on an equitable basis, the Court awards the applicant EUR 10,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage, plus any tax that may be chargeable on it. The Court further notes that Article 413 of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure provides that criminal proceedings may be reopened if the Court finds a violation of the Convention.
B. Costs and expenses
122. The applicant, relying on contract
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