Extradition Request to the Russian Federation. Application of the Principle of Non-Refoulement in the Context of the Risk of Torture and Inhuman Treatment

Under the pretext of the Russia–Ukraine war, the head of a regional division of the Federal Security Service (FSB) demanded that L.D. transfer a share of his business to him, threatening that, should he refuse, criminal proceedings would be fabricated against him and “evidence” of his involvement in a particularly serious crime would be created. Seeking to escape this unlawful persecution, L.D. relocated to the Republic of Armenia. Following his arrival in Armenia, criminal proceedings were initiated against him in the Russian Federation on allegations that he had committed a particularly serious offence approximately 27 years earlier. An arrest warrant was issued against him, on the basis of which he was arrested by the Armenian law enforcement authorities and placed in custody. During the pre-trial investigation in Russia, L.D.’s fundamental procedural rights and his right to a fair trial were seriously violated. In particular, his lawyers were effectively denied access to the case materials and prevented from providing effective legal representation, giving rise to serious concerns under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which guarantees the right to a fair trial. L.D.’s defence in Armenia was conducted by a multidisciplinary team of lawyers specializing in extradition, migration law, and European human rights law. The defence interviewed numerous individuals with direct knowledge of the unlawful persecution and the violations of L.D.’s rights in the Russian Federation and submitted a substantial body of evidence to the Armenian courts. In examining the extradition request, the Armenian court was required to apply the binding international human rights standards, including Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides for the absolute prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The court also relied on the United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT), in particular Article 3, which prohibits the extradition, expulsion, or return of a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would be in danger of being subjected to torture. Having assessed the evidence in light of these principles, the court concluded that extraditing L.D. to the Russian Federation would expose him to a real, foreseeable, and individual risk of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The court also took into account the broader context of politically motivated persecution and systemic deficiencies in procedural safeguards. On this basis, the court applied the principle of non-refoulement in accordance with the ECHR and the United Nations Convention against Torture and refused the extradition request submitted by the Russian Federation. As a result, L.D. was not extradited to the Russian Federation.