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THIRD SECTION CASE OF VAKULKO AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA (Applications nos. 52365/22 and 32 others – see appended list)             JUDGMENT   STRASBOURG 21 March 2024   This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Vakulko and Others v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:  Peeter Roosma, President,  Ioannis Ktistakis,  Andreas Zünd, judges, and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 22 February 2024, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.  The case originated in applications against Russia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table. 2.  The Russian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications. THE FACTS 3.  The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table. 4.  The applicants complained of the disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies. They also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention. THE LAW JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS 5.  Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment. JURISDICTION 6.  The Court observes that the facts giving rise to the alleged violations of the Convention occurred prior to 16 September 2022, the date on which the Russian Federation ceased to be a party to the Convention. The Court therefore decides that it has jurisdiction to examine the present applications (see Fedotova and Others v. Russia [GC], nos. 40792/10 and 2 others, §§ 68‑73, 17 January 2023). ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 11 OF THE CONVENTION 7.  The applicants complained principally of disproportionate measures taken against them as organisers or participants of public assemblies, namely their arrest in relation to the dispersal of these assemblies and their conviction for administrative offences. They relied, expressly or in substance, on Article 11 of the Convention. 8.  The Court refers to the principles established in its case-law regarding freedom of assembly (see Kudrevičius and Others v. Lithuania [GC], no. 37553/05, ECHR 2015, with further references) and proportionality of interference with it (see Oya Ataman v. Turkey, no. 74552/01, ECHR 2006‑XIV, and Hyde Park and Others v. Moldova, no. 33482/06, 31 March 2009). 9.  In the leading cases of Frumkin v. Russia, no. 74568/12, ECHR 2016 (extracts), Navalnyy and Yashin v. Russia, no. 76204/11, 4 December 2014 and Kasparov and Others v. Russia, no. 21613/07, 3 October 2013, the Court has already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case. 10.  Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion as to the admissibility and merits of these complaints. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the interferences with the applicants’ freedom of assembly were not “necessary in a democratic society”. 11.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention. OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW 12.  The applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention and its Protocols, given the relevant well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table). These complaints are not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention, nor are they inadmissible on any other ground. Accordingly, they must be declared admissible. 13.  Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that these complaints also disclose violations of the Convention and its Protocols in the light of its findings in Butkevich v. Russia, no. 5865/07, §§ 63-65, 13 February 2018, Tsvetkova and Others v. Russia, nos. 54381/08 and 5 others, §§ 115-31, 10 April 2018, and Korneyeva v. Russia, no. 72051/17, §§ 34-36, 8 October 2019, as to various aspects of unlawful deprivation of liberty of organisers or participants of public assemblies; Karelin v. Russia, no. 926/08, §§ 58-85, 20 September 2016, concerning the absence of a prosecuting party in the proceedings under the Code of Administrative Offences (the CAO); and Martynyuk v. Russia, no. 13764/15, §§ 38‑42, 8 October 2019, relating to the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal against the sentence of administrative detention. REMAINING COMPLAINTS 14.  Some applicants raised further additional complaints under Article 6 of the Convention concerning other aspects of fairness of the administrative‑offence proceedings. In view of the findings in paragraphs 10 and 13 above, the Court considers that there is no need to deal separately with these remaining complaints. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION 15.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Navalnyy and Others v. Russia [Committee], nos. 25809/17 and 14 others, § 22, 4 October 2022), the Court finds it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table. FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY, Decides to join the applications; Holds that it has jurisdiction to deal with these applications as they relate to facts that took place before 16 September 2022; Declares the complaints under Article 11 of the Convention and the other complaints under the well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, and finds that there is no need to examine separately the remaining complaints under Article 6 of the Convention; Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention; Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention and the Protocols thereto as regards the other complaints raised under the well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table); Holds (a)  that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement; (b)  that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points. Done in English, and notified in writing on 21 March 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.  Viktoriya Maradudina Peeter Roosma  Acting Deputy Registrar President     APPENDIX List of applications raising complaints under Article 11 of the Convention (disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies) No. Application no. Date of introduction Applicant’s name Year of birth   Representative’s name and location Name of the public event Location Date Administrative / criminal offence Penalty Final domestic decision Court Name Date Other complaints under well-established case-law Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs and expenses per applicant (in euros)[1]     52365/22 01/11/2022 Georgiy Alekseyevich VAKULKO Baranova Natalya Andreyevna Moscow Anti-war protest   Moscow 06/03/2022   Political protest   Moscow 12/04/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO         article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000       fine of RUB 15,000 Moscow City Court 05/07/2022       Moscow City Court 09/11/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.30 p.m. until 9.50 p.m. on 06/03/2022 and from 2.44 p.m. until 9 p.m. on 12/04/2022,    Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings in which the final decision was taken on 05/07/2022. 4,000     826/23 29/11/2022 Tatyana Mikhaylovna RUSIYANOVA Bushmakov Aleksey Vladimirovich Yekaterinburg Anti-war protest   Yekaterinburg 26/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO 30 hours of community work Sverdlovsk Regional Court 21/09/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report on 26/02/2022. 4,000     1567/23 01/12/2022 Aleksey Samuilovich ZINGER     Anti-war protest   Moscow 02/03/2022   Anti-war protest   Moscow 06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO         article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000       fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 13/10/2022       Moscow City Court 03/08/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.40 p.m. on 02/03/2022 to 2 a.m. on 03/03/2022 and from 3.50 p.m. until 7.30 p.m. on 06/03/2022;    Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings in which the final decision was taken on 03/08/2022. 4,000     3823/23 10/01/2023 Kseniya Radikovna SAFINA     Anti-war protest   Moscow 26/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 29/09/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.10 p.m. on 26/02/2022 until 12.30 a.m. on 27/02/2022. 4,000     4478/23 08/01/2023 Mariya Aleksandrovna FROLOVA Baranova Natalya Andreyevna Moscow Anti-war protest   Moscow 24/02/2022   Anti-war protest   Moscow 27/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO         article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000       fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 25/11/2022       Moscow City Court 09/09/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.30 p.m. until 9.30 p.m. on 24/02/2022 and from 8.16 p.m. on 27/02/2022 until 12 p.m. on 28/02/2022;   Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings in which the final decision was taken on 09/09/2022. 4,000     4481/23 16/01/2023 Yevgeniy Andreyevich RUDYKH Bochilo Anna Yevgenyevna Barnaul Anti-war protest   Moscow 03/03/2022     article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 31/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.20 p.m. until 10.30 p.m. on 03/03/2022. 4,000     4782/23 09/01/2023 Yekaterina Pavlovna SOSNOVSKAYA     Anti-war protest   Moscow 13/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 31/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 3.35 p.m. until 11.50 p.m. on 13/03/2022. 4,000     4805/23 18/01/2023 Eldar Valiyarovich ROMASHKIN     Rally "Free Navalnyy"   Moscow 31/01/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 29/09/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 1.35 p.m. until 10.40 p.m. on 31/01/2021. 4,000     4978/23 06/01/2023 Yuriy Lvovich LETUNOVSKIY     Anti-war protest   Yekaterinburg 06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Sverdlovsk Regional Court 05/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.15 p.m. on 06/03/2022 until 1 a.m. on 07/03/2022. 4,000   5094/23 18/01/2023 Maksim Viktorovich DEREVYANKIN     Anti-war protest   Moscow 06/03/2022                 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 Moscow City Court 19/09/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.45 p.m. to 11.35 p.m. on 06/03/2022. 4,000   5440/23 18/01/2023 Kseniya Alekseyevna MELNIKOVA Baranova Natalya Andreyevna Moscow Anti-war protest   Moscow 27/02/2022   Anti-war protest   Moscow 06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO         article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000       fine of RUB 15,000 Moscow City Court 19/09/2022       Moscow City Court 23/11/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 3.10 p.m. on 27/02/2022 until 4.20 a.m. on 28/02/2022 and from 4.09 p.m. until 9.50 p.m. on 06/03/2022. 4,000   5835/23 23/01/2023 Yuliya Aleksandrovna KLIMOVA     Anti-war protest   Moscow   06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 18,000 Moscow City Court 23/09/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.20 p.m. on 06/03/2022 until 1.30 a.m. on 07/03/2022. 4,000   6863/23 27/01/2023 Aleksandra Andreyevna AGEYEVA     Anti-war protest   Moscow 27/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City court 27/09/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 6 p.m. on 27/02/2022 until 2.30 a.m. on 28/02/2022 4,000   7260/23 22/01/2023 Yelizaveta Mikhaylovna TSYGANKOVA Solovyev Leonid Alekseyevich Moscow Anti-war protest   Moscow 06/03/2022   article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 17/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4 p.m. until 11.30 p.m. on 06/03/2022. 4,000   7570/23 10/02/2023 Anna Mikhaylovna DUBKOVA     Anti-war protest   Moscow 06/03/2022 article 19.3 § 1 of CAO detention for 15 days Moscow City Court 11/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence report from 5.50 p.m. on 06/03/2022 until 1 p.m. on 07/03/2022;   Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO. 5,000   7576/23 06/02/2023 Dmitriy Ivanovich GOLOVIN     Anti-war protest   Moscow 06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 12,000 Moscow City Court 05/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 3 p.m. until 7.40 p.m. on 06/03/2022. 4,000   7792/23 27/01/2023 Yuriy Valeryevich RYABININ     Anti-war protest   Moscow 27/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 27/09/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.40 p.m. on 27/02/2022 until 7 a.m. on 28/02/2022. 4,000   7885/23 21/01/2023 Irina Alekseyevna BELYAYEVA     Anti-war protest   Novosibirsk 24/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Novosibirsk Regional Court 21/09/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.40 p.m. until 10.50 p.m. on 24/02/2022. 4,000   8034/23 20/01/2023 Yekaterina Borisovna BORISOVA     Anti-war protest   Moscow 13/03/2022   article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 03/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 2 p.m. until 6.50 p.m. on 13/03/2022. 4,000   8281/23 10/02/2023 Liliya Aydarovna SADREYEVA Ushakov Timofey Borisovich Kokoshkino Anti-war protest   Moscow 25/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 13/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 9.25 p.m. on 25/02/2022 until 2.15 a.m. on 26/02/2022. 4,000   8283/23 10/02/2023 Kseniya Viktorovna SHESTAKOVA Ushakov Timofey Borisovich Kokoshkino Anti-war protest   Moscow 26/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 11/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station after compiling an offence repot from  4 p.m. until 9.20 p.m. on 26/02/2022. 4,000   8285/23 10/02/2023 Pavel Valeryevich BOBYLEV Ushakov Timofey Borisovich Kokoshkino Anti-war protest   Moscow 26/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 11/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.10 p.m. until 9.50 p.m. on 26/02/2022. 4,000   8288/23 10/02/2023 Yelizaveta Bogdanovna MAMONOVA Ushakov Timofey Borisovich Kokoshkino Anti-war protest   Moscow 24/02/2022   Anti-war protest   Moscow 26/02/2022     article 20.2 § 5 of CAO         article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000       fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 25/10/2022       Moscow City Court 11/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.30 p.m. until 10.45 p.m. on 26/02/2022. 4,000   8688/23 17/01/2023 Darya Sergeyevna PAVLENKO     Anti-war protest   Moscow 06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 03/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.12 p.m. on 06/03/2022 until 12.02 a.m. on 07/03/2022. 4,000   8872/23 15/02/2023 Aleksandr Yevgenyevich GURYASHKIN Bochilo Anna Yevgenyevna Barnaul Anti-war protest   Moscow 24/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 Moscow City Court 05/12/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from  8 p.m. on 24/02/2022 until 25/02/2022. 4,000   8965/23 25/01/2023 Galina Stepanovna BILDEYEVA     Anti-war protest   Moscow 06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 27/09/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.20 p.m. until 6 p.m. on 06/03/2022. 4,000   9034/23 16/02/2023 Tatyana Aleksandrovna VASILYEVA Bochilo Anna Yevgenyevna Barnaul Anti-war protest   Moscow 06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 17/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on 06/03/2022. 4,000   9062/23 16/02/2023 Ruslan Rysbekovich BAYNAZAROV Bochilo Anna Yevgenyevna Barnaul Anti-war protest   Moscow 06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 25/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.30 p.m. until 11.30 p.m. on 06/03/2022. 4,000   9418/23 27/01/2023 Yelena Mikhaylovna KUKHLEVSKAYA     Anti-war protest   Moscow 13/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 27/09/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.30 p.m. until 9.30 p.m. on 13/03/2022. 4,000   9543/23 07/02/2023 Yekaterina Maksimovna NIKOLAYEVA     Anti-war protest   Moscow 06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 07/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report on 06/03/2022. 4,000   9555/23 01/02/2023 Dmitriy Nikolayevich LEN     Protest against "foreign agent" legislation   Moscow 29/08/2021 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 03/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station from 5.20 p.m. until 9.20 p.m. on 29/08/2021. 4,000   10030/23 13/02/2023 Irina Gaikovna PETROSYAN     Anti-war protest   Moscow 06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 13/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 5 p.m. until 9.50 p.m. on 06/03/2022. 4,000   28159/23 06/07/2023 Alla Igorevna FROLOVA Okushko Tatyana Borisovna Strasbourg Anti-war protest   Moscow 26/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 Moscow City Court 21/03/2023 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 5.10 p.m. until 8.45 p.m. on 26/02/2022. 4,000     [1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.