ECtHR - M.K. v. Russia (application no. 35346/16) [Articles 2. 3 and 5 ECHR], 27 February 2018

Date: 
Tuesday, February 27, 2018

On 27 February 2018, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in case M.K. v. Russia(application no. 35346/16), which concerned a Syrian national who arrived in Russia in 2015 on a study visa and who, following the expiration of that visa, applied for refugee status based on the risks to his life and safety in the light of the conflict in Syria. His application and subsequent appeals were denied by the Russian authorities and the applicant was detained in breach of migration rules. His expulsion was adjourned in compliance with the ECtHR’s interim measure. On 13 January 2017, the Russian Supreme Court amended the lower courts’ decisions and excluded administrative removal from the sanction due to the conditions in Syria. The applicant left Syria for Lebanon and currently resides in Sudan.

With regard to the applicant’s complaints under Articles 2 and 3 ECHR, the ECtHR considered that it was no longer justified to continue the examination of the complaints since he had left Russia and settled in a safe third country. For what concerns the complaint under Article 5 ECHR, the Court noted that the applicant had been detained for approximately seven months, but that the possibility of enforcement of his expulsion was reviewed on a monthly basis by the domestic courts. Therefore, the ECtHR found that the Russian government had not violated the applicant’s rights under Article 5 ECHR.

 


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Keywords: 
Detention
Inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
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