A Russian prisoner’s pre-trial detention for more than a year in overcrowded cells without a speedy examination of his appeals was unjustified, judges have declared.
They awarded more than €9,000 to Timur Idalov following a Grand Chamber final judgment in the case Idalov v. Russia (application no. 5826/03)
On 22 May, the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been:
two violations of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights on account of the conditions of Idalov’s pre-trial detention, and on account of the conditions of his detention in a cell at the courthouse and the manner of his transfer from prison to the courthouse;
three violations of Article 5 (right to liberty and security) on account of the length of his pre-trial detention, the failure to examine speedily his appeals against the detention orders and his absence from the appeal hearings concerning the lawfulness of his detention;
a violation of Article 6 (right to a fair trial) on account of his exclusion from the trial and no violation of Article 6 as regards the length of the criminal proceedings against him and
a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) on account of the prison administration’s opening of two letters from the European Court of Human Rights addressed to Idalov.
The case concerned a complaint by a prisoner about the conditions and length of his detention on remand and about the criminal proceedings against him.
Under Article 41 (just satisfaction) of the Convention, the Court held that Russia was to pay Mr Idalov 7,150 euros (EUR) in respect of non-pecuniary damage and EUR 2,500 in respect of costs and expenses.
