In a preliminary relief procedure, the District Court of The Hague prohibited the extradition of an individual to Russia. According to the preliminary relief judge, the plaintiff runs a real risk of being subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment if extradited. As such, the plaintiff’s fundament right as laid down in Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) is insufficiently guaranteed. The preliminary relief judge mainly had to the detention conditions in Russian prisons in mind. The preliminary relief judge found that ill-treatment in detention is systematic, that torture and other forms of ill-treatment are widespread and that physical and sexual abuse are systematic. The preliminary relief judge based her verdict inter alia on reports from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations.
The case is published here (in Dutch).
The plaintiff in this case was represented by Tamara Buruma and Bram Horenblas