The stay of a defendant in a glass chamber during his trial is a degrading treatment
JUDGMENT
Akimenkov and others v. Russia 06.02.2018 (no. 2613/13 and 50041/14)
SUMMARY
Arrest for participation in a political demonstration. The defendant’s stay in a glass chamber during his trial. Lack of justification for the extension of the provisional detention. Violation for degrading treatment and the right to freedom and security.
PROVISIONS
Article 3
Article 5 par. 3
PRINCIPAL FACTS
The case concerned the applicant’s complaint that, following a political demonstration, there had been no good reason for his arrest or pre-trial detention, and that various aspects of his detention had amounted to degrading treatment.
The applicant, Vladimir Akimenkov, is a Russian national who was born in 1987 and lives in Moscow.
On 6 May 2012 he attended a protest against allegedly rigged presidential elections. After a peaceful march, a meeting began at Bolotnaya Square, where clashes broke out between the demonstrators and the police. The following month the applicant was arrested and charged with taking part in acts of mass disorder and committing acts of violence against the police accompanied by violence. He requested bail but detention was repeatedly extended until December 2013 when he was finally released under the new Amnesty Act.
The applicant complained in particular under Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights, notably about the alleged poor conditions in the various remand prisons, en route to court and at the court itself, and about a lack of medical assistance for a serious eye condition. He further complained under Article 5 (right to liberty and security) that there had been no good reason for his extended pre-trial detention, nor any reason to suspect that he had committed a criminal offence.
THE DECISION OF THE COURT
No violation of Article 3 – in respect of the conditions of detention in the remand prisons
No violation of Article 3 – as regards the alleged lack of medical assistance
Violation of Article 3 (inhuman and degrading treatment) – in respect of the conditions of transfer to and from court
Violation of Article 3 – on account of the confinement in a glass cabin in hearing room no. 338 at the Moscow City Court
No violation of Article 3 – on account of the confinement in a glass cabin in hearing room no. 635 at the Moscow City Court
Violation of Article 5 § 3
Just satisfaction: 10,000 euros (EUR) (non-pecuniary damage)(echrcaselaw.com editing).