8417/23;11024/23;11655/23;11931/23;12097/23;12220/23;13085/23;13467/23;13840/23;14605/23;14610/23;15128/23;15761/23;16376/23;16707/23;17355/23;18493/23;18709/23;19372/23;21771/23;22976/23

FOURTH SECTION CASE OF ZAYTSEVA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA (Applications nos. 8417/23 and 20 others – see appended list)             JUDGMENT   STRASBOURG 28 March 2024   This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Zaytseva and Others v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:  Branko Lubarda, President,  Armen Harutyunyan,  Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges, and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 7 March 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 participants in the protests against the Russian military attack on Ukraine, which occurred on various dates in Moscow. Some applicants 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 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 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.  Some applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, 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 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. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION 14.  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; Holds that these applications disclose a breach of Article 11 of the Convention; Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention 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 28 March 2024, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.  Viktoriya Maradudina Branko Lubarda  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]     8417/23 20/01/2023 Alena Andreyevna ZAYTSEVA     Anti-war protest   Moscow   27/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 21/09/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.20 p.m. until 8 p.m. on 27/02/2022. 4,000     11024/23 23/02/2023 Yulyus Kyastutovich CHYASNAVICHYUS     Anti-war protest   Moscow   24/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 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 8.45 p.m. on 24/02/2022 until 4.17 a.m. on 25/02/2022. 4,000     11655/23 22/02/2023 Yelena Yuryevna RYZHOVA     Anti-war protest   Moscow   13/03/2022       article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 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 3.30 p.m. until 11 p.m. on 13/03/2022 4,000     11931/23 19/02/2023 Glafira Sergeyevna YEFTEYEVA     Anti-war protest   Moscow   24/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 19/10/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.30 p.m. on 24/02/2022 until 2.30 a.m. on 25/02/2022. 4,000     12097/23 27/02/2023 Polina Viktorovna ALAYEVA     Anti-war protest   Moscow   06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 27/10/2022   3,500     12220/23 03/03/2023 Yeva Sergeyevna FOLGER     Anti-war protest   Moscow   27/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 03/11/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 8.45 p.m. on 27/02/2022 until 3 a.m. on 28/02/2022. 4,000     13085/23 03/03/2023 Marina Igorevna CHUFARINA     Anti-war protest   Moscow   06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 Moscow City Court 03/11/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 3.20 p.m. until 9.30 p.m. on 06/03/2022. 4,000     13467/23 21/03/2023 Yuriy Valentinovich GREBINICHENKO     Anti-war protest   Moscow   27/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 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 4.10 p.m. until 11 p.m. on 27/02/2022. 4,000     13840/23 17/03/2023 Mikhail Valeryevich SEROV     Anti-war protest   Moscow   24/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 Moscow City Court 17/11/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 8.04 p.m. on 24/02/2022 until 2.10 a.m. on 25/02/2022. 4,000   14605/23 17/03/2023 Olesya Vladislavovna ZVEREVA     Anti-war protest   Moscow   06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 5,000 Moscow City Court 25/11/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.44 p.m. until 10.28 p.m. on 06/03/2022. 4,000   14610/23 11/03/2023 Pavel Mikhaylovich YEROKHIN     Anti-war protest   Moscow   01/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 11/11/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 8.50 p.m. on 01/03/2022 until 3.10 a.m. on 02/03/2022. 4,000   15128/23 21/03/2023 Aleksey Lvovich MASLOV     Anti-war protest   Moscow   13/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 Moscow City Court 21/11/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 3.03 p.m. until 8.15 p.m. on 13/03/2022. 4,000   15761/23 20/02/2023 Olga Ivanovna GAZINA     Anti-war protest   Moscow   03/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 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 7.20 p.m. on 03/03/2022 until 12.42 a.m. on 04/03/2022. 4,000   16376/23 06/04/2023 Talgat Takhirovich IMANUTDINOV     Anti-war protest   Moscow   27/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 07/12/2022 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 12.40 a.m. on 28/02/2022. 4,000   16707/23 25/03/2023 Artemiy Andreyevich STRUCHEV     Anti-war protest   Moscow   06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 25/11/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.30 p.m. until 10.30 p.m. on 06/03/2022. 4,000   17355/23 08/04/2023 Sergey Vitalyevich ABRAMOV     Anti-war protest   Moscow   06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 09/12/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.05 p.m. until 10.45 p.m. on 06/03/2022. 4,000   18493/23 18/04/2023 Yevgeniya Leonidovna TKACHUK     Anti-war protest   Moscow   13/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 15,000 Moscow City Court 19/12/2022 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.44 p.m. until 10.30 p.m. on 13/03/2022. 4,000   18709/23 05/04/2023 Vyacheslav Sergeyevich MINAYEV     Anti-war protest   Moscow   06/03/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 5,000 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 5.30 p.m. on 06/03/2022 until 1.55 a.m. on 07/03/2022. 4,000   19372/23 10/03/2023 Kseniya Mikhaylovna MASLOVA Aksenova Darya Dmitriyevna Kolomna Anti-war protest   Moscow   28/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 20,000 Moscow City Court 13/12/2022   3,500   21771/23 25/05/2023 Olga Nikolayevna YAKOVLEVA     Anti-war protest   Moscow   28/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 25/01/2023 Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 8 p.m. on 28/02/2022 until 1 a.m. on 01/03/2022. 4,000   22976/23 21/04/2023 Sofya Leonidovna INDENBAUMAN Aksenova Darya Dmitriyevna Kolomna Anti-war protest   Moscow   27/02/2022 article 20.2 § 5 of CAO fine of RUB 10,000 Moscow City Court 05/04/2023   3,500     [1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.