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 gravity of the offence. Nor can continuation of the detention be used to anticipate a custodial sentence (see Letellier v. France, 26 June 1991, § 51, Series A No. 207; also see 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).
56. The domestic courts also referred to the applicant's presumed membership of an organised criminal group. The Court accepts that in cases concerning organised crime the risk that a detainee if released might put pressure on witnesses or might otherwise obstruct the proceedings is often particularly high. These factors can justify a relatively longer period of detention. However, they do not give the authorities unlimited power to extend this preventive measure (Osuch v. Poland, No. 31246/02, § 26, 14 November 2006; and Celejewski see v. Poland, No. 17584/04, §§ 37 - 38, 4 May 2006). Taking into account that the applicant was suspected of being an active member of an organised criminal group, the Court accepts that the authorities could justifiably consider that the risk of pressure on witnesses and jurors was initially present. However, the Court is not persuaded that that ground could in itself justify the entire five-year period of the applicant's detention. Indeed, the domestic courts referred to the risk of hampering the proceedings in a summary fashion without pointing to any aspect of the applicant's character or behaviour in support of their conclusion that he was likely to resort to intimidation. In the Court's view such a generally formulated risk may not serve as a justification for the applicant's detention for a period of more than five years. The domestic courts omitted to consider the fact that that ground inevitably became less and less relevant with the passage of time. The courts' reasoning did not evolve to reflect the developing situation and to verify whether at the advanced stage of the proceedings that ground retained its sufficiency. The Court is not therefore convinced that, throughout the entire period of the applicant's detention, compelling reasons existed for a fear that he would interfere with witnesses or jurors or otherwise hamper the examination of the case, and certainly not such as to outweigh the applicant's right to trial within a reasonable time or release pending trial.
57. The only other ground for the applicant's continued detention was the domestic courts' finding that he had no permanent residence in the Volgograd Region. The Court reiterates that the mere absence of a fixed residence does not give rise to a danger of absconding (see Pshevecherskiy v. Russia, No. 28957/02, § 68, 24 May 2007; and Sulaoja v. Estonia, No. 55939/00, § 64, 15 February 2005). In any event, it was undisputed that the applicant had a fixed residence in the neighbouring region, the Kalmykiya Republic.
58. The Court observes that all decisions extending the applicant's detention on remand were stereotypically worded and in summary form. They did not describe in detail the applicant's personality or individual circumstances. Although in one of the extension orders the Regional Court sated that it had taken into account "the defendants' characters", this statement was not accompanied with any description of the applicant's character or an explanation as to why it made his detention necessary (see paragraph 26 above). The domestic authorities' reluctance to devote proper attention to discussion of the applicant's personal situation is particularly manifest in the Regional Court's decisions of 20 and 27 April 2004, which gave no grounds whatsoever for the applicant's continued detention. The Regional Court only noted that "
> 1 2 3 ... 6 7 8 9 ... 10
Zaki.ru законы и право
поиск по сайту
каталог документов
добавить сайт Zaki.ru в избранное
Правовые акты международные
Правовые акты Российской Федерации
