ECtHR decision in K. v Russia (no. 69235/11)

The applicant is a Belarusian national who was arrested in Moscow in May 2011 following an international arrest warrant from Belarus and placed in detention. His detention was extended on several occasions. Although the Russian authorities approved his extradition, it did not take place because the ECtHR issued an interim measure preventing it. The applicant had also requested asylum shortly after his detention. His claim was at first dismissed. However, in May 2012 the Federal Migration Service granted him temporary asylum for one year relying on the interim measure issued by the ECtHR, which did not rule out entirely the risk of persecution and inhuman or degrading treatment that the applicant might face in Belarus.He was subsequently released from detention. Before the ECtHR, the applicant alleged a violations of Article 3 arguing that extradition to Belarus would expose him to ill-treatment andof Articles 5(1) and 5(4).

The Court rejected the allegations concerning Article 3. The Court did not give particular weight to the assurances of the Belarusian authorities that the applicant would not be subjected to ill-treatment and noted that the human-rights situation in Belarus gives rise to concern. However, it could not conclude that the applicant had raised individual circumstances to substantiate his fears of ill-treatment. He had failed to show substantial grounds for believing that he would face such treatment if extradited to Belarus. The Court also reasoned that the general human-rights situation in Belarus did not call for a general ban on extraditions. It also dismissed the applicant's allegations concerning Article 5(1), but it found a violation of Article 5(4) on account of the excessive duration of the judicial proceedings to review the legality of the applicant's detention.

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