eponderant weight that no other circumstances could have obtained the applicants' release. The Court has repeatedly held that, although the severity of the sentence faced is a relevant element in the assessment of the risk of an accused absconding or reoffending, the need to continue the deprivation of liberty cannot be assessed from a purely abstract point of view, taking into consideration only the seriousness of the offence. Nor can continuation of the detention be used to anticipate a custodial sentence (see Letellier v. France, judgment of 26 June 1991, § 51, Series A No. 207; see also Panchenko v. Russia, No. 45100/98, § 102, 8 February 2005; Goral v. Poland, No. 38654/97, § 68, 30 October 2003; and Ilijkov, cited above, § 81).
82. The domestic authorities also referred to the fact that the applicants could have obstructed the course of justice by influencing the witnesses. Although such factors could justify a relatively longer period of detention, they do not give the authorities unlimited power to extend this preventive measure (see Osuch v. Poland, No. 31246/02, § 26, 14 November 2006, and Celejewski v. Poland, No. 17584/04, §§ 37 - 38, 4 May 2006). The fact that a person is charged with criminal conspiracy is not in itself sufficient to justify long periods of detention; the accused's personal circumstances and behaviour must always be taken into account. There is no indication in the present case that the applicants had made any attempts to intimidate witnesses or to obstruct the course of the proceedings in any other way. In such circumstances the Court has difficulty accepting that there was a risk of interference with the administration of justice at the later stages of the proceedings. The Court is not therefore persuaded that, throughout the entire period of the applicants' detention, there were compelling reasons to fear that they might interfere with witnesses or otherwise hamper the investigation of the case, certainly not to such an extent as to outweigh the applicants' right to trial within a reasonable time or release pending trial.
83. The Court further observes that after the case had been submitted for trial, on 8 August 2000 the trial court used a summary formula to extend the detention of both applicants, without describing their personal situation in any detail or providing any reasons for their continued detention (see paragraph 22 above). The Court has already found that the practice of issuing collective detention orders without assessment of the grounds for detention in respect of each detainee is incompatible, in itself, with Article 5 § 3 of the Convention (see Shcheglyuk v. Russia, No. 7649/02, § 45, 14 December 2006; Korchuganova, cited above, § 76; and Dolgova v. Russia, No. 11886/05, § 49, 2 March 2006). By extending the detention of both applicants simultaneously on the basis of a summary formula and providing no reasons whatsoever for its decision, the trial court failed to examine their individual circumstances.
84. Further, the Court notes that the above-mentioned decision of the trial court did not set time-limits for the applicants' continued detention and that the relevant legislation at the time did not lay down any time-limits for detention pending trial either. This situation left the applicants in a state of uncertainty as to the possible length of their detention pending trial.
85. Finally, the Court notes that when deciding whether a person should be released or detained the authorities have an obligation under Article 5 § 3 to consider alternative measures of ensuring his or her appearance at trial. This Convention provision proclaims not only the right to "trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial" but also lays down that "release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial" (see Sulaoja, cited above, § 64 in fine, 15 February 2005, and {Jablonski}, cited above, § 83). In the present
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