5.  The first applicant (Mr Asainov) was born in 1968 and lives in Moscow. The second applicant (Ms Sibiryak) was born in 1975 and lives in Mashabei Sadeh, Israel.
6.  The background facts relating to the planning, conduct and dispersal of the demonstration at Bolotnaya Square are set out in more detail in Frumkin v. Russia (no. 74568/12, §§ 7-65, 5 January 2016) and Yaroslav Belousov v. Russia (nos. 2653/13 and 60980/14, §§ 7-33, 4 October 2016). The parties’ submissions on the circumstances directly relevant to the present cases are set out below.
7.  On 6 May 2012 a public demonstration entitled the “March of Millions” was held in central Moscow to protest against the allegedly rigged presidential elections. The event had been approved by the city authorities in the form of a march followed by a meeting at Bolotnaya Square which was supposed to end at 7.30 p.m. The march was peaceful and held without any disruptions, but when the marchers arrived at Bolotnaya Square it transpired that barriers installed by the police had narrowed the entrance to the meeting venue, allegedly restricting the space allocated for the meeting. To control the crowd, a police cordon forced the protestors to remain within the barriers. There were numerous clashes between the police and protesters. At 5.30 p.m. the police ordered that the meeting finish early and began to disperse the participants. It took them about two hours to clear the protestors from the square.
8.  The applicants took part in the demonstration on 6 May 2012 at Bolotnaya Square. They were arrested at the venue of the event and taken to police stations, where they were charged with administrative offences and then convicted as charged by the justices of the peace.
9.  According to the first applicant, on 6 May 2012 he had arrived at Bolotnaya Square to take part in the peaceful demonstration. Around 8.55 p.m. he had been arrested outside the venue of the event. Before his arrest, he had not committed any breach of public order or other offences and had not received any orders from the police.
10.  According to the Government, the applicant, as a participant in the authorised demonstration, had broken through the police cordon and tried to pass to the Red Square. He had ignored the police orders to cease these actions and actively resisted the officers while being taken to the police van.
11.  At 8.30 p.m. the first applicant was brought to the Fili-Davydkovo district police station in Moscow. At the police station an on-duty officer drew up a record of the applicant’s administrative escorting for the purpose of compiling an administrative file. The administrative arrest record indicated that the applicant had been arrested at 8.30 p.m. at the police station and released at 11.05 p.m. on the same day.
12.  After that a duty officer drew up an administrative offence record, stating as follows:
“... On 6 May 2012 at 8.30 p.m. at the Bolotnaya Square in Moscow [the applicant] took part in an authorised meeting... he broke through the police cordon and tried to enter Red Square, pushing police officers away. [The applicant] did not react to the multiple lawful demands of the police to cease these actions and actively resisted while being taken to the police van, thereby demonstrating his refusal to obey the lawful orders of the police officers and preventing them from fulfilling their service duties, in breach of Article 19.3 § 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences.”
13.  On 29 May 2012 the Justice of the Peace of circuit no. 100 of the Yakimanka District of Moscow examined the administrative charges against the applicant in his presence. On the basis of the statements of two police officers the court established that the applicant had committed an administrative offence under Article 19.3 § 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences, as described in the administrative offence record. The first applicant was sentenced to a fine of 500 Russian roubles ((RUB) – about 12 euros (EUR) at the time).
14.  The first applicant appealed against the judgment to the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court of Moscow. On 7 June 2012 his wife, who had been an eye-witness to the events of 6 May 2012, submitted written statements to the court. According to her, she had come to take part in the authorised demonstration at Bolotnaya Square with her husband. They passed Yakimanka Street together with other participants, but when they approached Malyy Kamennyy Bridge the march stopped. After standing there and waiting for some time they decided to cease their participation in the event, but could not leave the venue and remained at the pavement. Around 8.30 p.m. the police told them to proceed to the metro station, which they did. On the way to the station at 8.55 p.m. her husband was arrested by the police officers, who gave no orders, and was taken to the police van. Then she went to the Fili-Davydkovo police station to wait for his release.
15.  On 16 July 2012 the District Court examined and partly granted the applicant’s request to exclude the written statements of the police officers as inadmissible evidence. The court summoned them to be examined at the hearing as witnesses. On 2 August the hearing was adjourned to 23 August 2012; the applicant’s request to be represented by one more lawyer was granted. The applicant and his lawyer were duly summoned to that hearing.
16.  On 22 August 2012 the first applicant sent a telegram to the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court asking to adjourn the hearing on the grounds that he was away from Moscow for family reasons.
17.  On 23 August 2012 the District Court held a hearing in the absence of the applicant and his lawyers, having mentioned that none of them had lodged a request to adjourn the hearing. The court questioned two police officers, who stated that the applicant, together with other participants of the demonstration, had pushed through the police cordon and tried to approach the Kremlin; had pushed the police officers away; had thrown stones, glass bottles and smoke bombs; had disregarded multiple demands by the police to cease his actions; and had resisted arrest. The appeal decision did not mention the eye-witness statement submitted by the applicant’s wife. Relying on the testimony of the police officers, the District Court upheld the first-instance judgment.
18.  According to the second applicant, she arrived at Oktyabrskaya metro station at 4 p.m. on 6 May 2012 to take part in the peaceful demonstration at Bolotnaya Square. She passed Yakimanka Street with other participants, but on approaching the square found the entrance blocked. Around 6.30 p.m. the police started to break the crowd up into groups and push them. Two police officers grabbed her hands and pushed her towards the police van. She did not breach public order and had not taken part in any acts of violence prior to her arrest. At around 9.05 p.m. the second applicant was brought to Khoroshevskiy district police station. After the police drew up an administrative offence record, she was released at around 1.40 a.m. on 7 May 2012.
19.  According to the Government, the second applicant was arrested at 7.15 p.m. at Bolotnaya Square because she had been participating in breaking through the police cordon and had disregarded the police order to cease these acts and disperse. She was taken to the police station at 8.10 p.m. and released at 10.35 p.m. on the same day.
20.  The logbook of persons brought to the Khoroshevskiy district police station indicated that the second applicant was taken there at 7.50 p.m. and released at 10.35 p.m. on 6 May 2012. The administrative file contained no record of the applicant being escorted to the police station. The record of administrative arrest compiled at 8.20 p.m. indicated that she had been taken to the police station at 8.10 p.m. and released later on the same day.
21.  The second applicant was accused of having disobeyed a lawful police order, which was an offence under Article 19.3 § 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The administrative offence record stated as follows:
“On 6 May 2012 at 7.15 p.m. [the applicant] took part in an authorised meeting at Bolotnaya Square in Moscow, broke through the police cordon and tried to approach the Kremlin. [The applicant] did not react to the multiple lawful demands of the police officers to cease these actions, thereby preventing them from fulfilling their service duties ... in breach of Article 19.3 § 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences.”
22.  The administrative case-file contained a police officer’s report which was drawn up on a template. The report contained no individualised information except the police officer’s and the applicant’s personal data. It substantially repeated the description of the applicant’s acts contained in the administrative offence record. The report added that the applicant had thrown stones at the police, lit fireworks and resisted arrest.
23.  On 30 May 2012 the Justice of the Peace of Circuit Court no. 100 of the Yakimanka District of Moscow examined the administrative charges against the applicant. The applicant was not present at the hearing, even though she had been summoned to attend. On the basis of the police officer’s report, the applicant was found guilty under Article 19.3 § 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences and was sentenced to a fine of RUB 500 (about EUR 12 at the time).
24.  On 13 November 2012 the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court of Moscow examined the applicant’s appeal in her presence and upheld the first-instance judgment. The second applicant’s request to have the police officers who had arrested her examined at the hearing was dismissed. However, at her request, the court examined a witness of defence who stated that the applicant had not participated in breaking through the police cordon and had not committed any unlawful acts. The witness’s statements were dismissed by the court as unreliable evidence on the grounds that he was the applicant’s friend. Furthermore, the court considered that the applicant had been duly summoned to the first-instance hearing by telephone but had failed to appear or to lodge a request for its adjournment.
25.  On 15 April 2013 the Deputy President of the Moscow City Court examined the applicant’s administrative case in supervisory review proceedings and upheld the earlier judicial decisions.