The applicant, Sergey Shikuta, is a Russian national who was born in 1961 and lived before his arrest in the town of Smolensk (Russia). He is a former police officer and head of the Smolensk division for investigating organised crime. He was arrested in August 2004 on drug trafficking charges. He was subsequently also charged with attempted bribery for which he was found guilty in July 2006 and sentenced to two and a half years’ imprisonment. He was ultimately acquitted of the remaining charges against him in February 2007 and immediately released. The case concerns his complaint about the unlawfulness, excessive length and lack of speedy review of the reasons for his detention. He relies on Article 5 §§ 1 (c), 3 and 4 (right to liberty and security/entitlement to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial / right to have lawfulness of detention decided speedily by a court).
Citation: Shikuta v Russia (App no 45373/05) ECHR 11 April 2013
(citation from the official press-release prepared by the European Court of Human Rights)