5.  The applicants were prosecuted in Russia for various crimes. They were arrested and detained while the crimes were investigated and pending trial. Their detention was ordered and extended by the courts. The detention orders were essentially based on the gravity of the charges, the primary grounds being the risk of the applicants’ absconding and interfering with the course of justice. The detention and extension orders used stereotypical formulae, without addressing specific facts or considering alternative preventive measures. 6.  The first applicant was born in 1982 and was detained in Irkutsk. 7.  On 23 December 2008 the first applicant, a police officer at the material time, was arrested and placed in pre-trial detention. On an unspecified date he was formally charged with banditry, kidnapping, abuse of power, robbery (four counts), preparing to commit robbery, intentionally damaging another’s property, and stealing and damaging official documents. On 19 April 2010 he, along with thirteen co-defendants, was committed for trial before the Irkutsk Regional Court. On 7 November 2011 the Irkutsk Regional Court convicted him of abuse of power, and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment and disqualification from holding public office for one year. He was released on parole. 8.  The second applicant was born in 1967 and was detained in Penza. 9.  On 14 February 2009 a criminal case was opened into an incident of fraud involving an apartment, which had caused damage in the amount of 440,000 Russian roubles (RUB). On 24 June 2009 the second applicant was arrested. On 8 June 2010 the Leninskiy District Court of Penza found him guilty as charged and sentenced him to eleven months’ imprisonment.