5.  The applicant was born in 1987 and is detained in Drogobych.
6.  On 6 September 2007 the B. family’s house in the village of Side was burgled by a masked gang. On unspecified dates, a number of other robberies were committed in a similar way in the region.
7.  At the end of October 2007 M., a relative of the B. family, confessed to them that he had participated in the burglary, having been forced to do so by K. and Ya., who had also taken part in the crime. He submitted that the other participants had not been known to him.
8.  On 4 December 2007 criminal proceedings were instituted in respect of the burglary.
9.  On unspecified dates K. and Ya. – and, subsequently, three other persons – were arrested as suspects in the case. Before being arrested on criminal charges, all of them had been placed in administrative detention for alleged resistance to the police, in the course of which they confessed to the burglary. One of the detainees, Sh., allegedly named the applicant as an accomplice.
10.  On 6 February 2008, in order to verify the applicant’s possible involvement in the aforementioned crime, police officers approached him when he was in the backyard of his house and ordered him to accompany them to a police station. The applicant refused and, according to the police record, attempted to flee. Accompanied by his father, he was taken to the Sambir police station and spent the following night in detention. His father was sent home.
11.  At about 10 a.m. on 7 February 2008, the applicant was taken to Drogobych police station where the police drew up a report stating that he had committed an administrative offence, having manifested wilful disobedience to a lawful order given by police officers. They also drew up a report on the applicant’s administrative arrest, which suggested that no physical injuries had been found on him during his apprehension. The applicant refused to sign both reports. Thereafter, he was brought before the Drogobych District Court, which sentenced him to twelve days’ administrative detention for manifest disobedience to the lawful demands of the police.
12.  On the same day at the Sambir police station, according to the relevant record the applicant made a “statement of surrender and confession” (явкa з каяттям) in which he confessed to two counts of burglary, including that of the B. family. According to this statement, the applicant had participated in the crime because he had been under constant threats from K., the alleged organiser of the burglary, to whom he had owed money, and from K.’s friend, P., who had also participated in the burglary. He also stated that he had no complaints against the police and that no physical or psychological coercion had been applied to him. On the same date, according to the relevant record, “explanations” were obtained from the applicant in which he confirmed his participation in the burglary and provided further details as to the circumstances of the crime.
13.  According to the applicant, the police ill-treated him with a view to extracting confessions from him. In particular, after the hearing at the Drogobych District Court on 7 February 2008 (see paragraph 11 above), he was taken back to Drogobych police station. At about 3 p.m., police officers of that station, in the presence of their colleagues from Sambir police station, handcuffed his hands behind his back, kicked him and hit him with the back of a chair; when he requested a lawyer, police officer Y. came in holding a white stool leg. He placed the applicant face down on a table, stuffed a knitted hat in his mouth and beat him with the stool leg on his bare heels, causing him a fractured foot. To stop the beating the applicant agreed to confess and signed the statement of surrender to the police. Thereafter, he was taken to the investigator in charge of the investigation of the burglary for questioning. He once again confirmed his confessions, being afraid of further ill-treatment by the police. Prior to being taken to the investigator, the applicant was transferred back to Sambir police station in the late evening on 7 February 2008. There he was taken to the Sambir Temporary Detention Centre (“the Sambir ITT”) where he drafted a statement that he had not been beaten by the police and that his foot pain had been caused by accidently twisting his foot on the stairs. According to the applicant, he was forced to make such a statement by the head of the police station. He further submitted that no medical assistance had been administered to him for the following five days, despite his complaints of severe pain in the foot.
14.  According to the Government, the applicant had not suffered any ill‑treatment and had confessed to the burglary of the B. family’s home of his own free will.
15.  In the early morning of 8 February 2008, according to the applicant, he was made to write another document, referred to as “explanations”, as dictated by police officers. In this document he confirmed his confession to the burglary.
16.  On 12 February 2008 the applicant was taken to Sambir Town Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a fractured right foot and received the necessary medical assistance.
17.  On the same date, once he had been discharged from the Sambir ITT, the applicant submitted in writing that he had no complaints against the police officers of Sambir police station in connection with his detention in that facility.
18.  On a number of occasions during the applicant’s administrative detention, namely on 9, 11 and 12 February 2008, a lawyer, Ms I., appointed by the applicant’s family on 7 February 2008, unsuccessfully attempted to hold a meeting with the applicant. She managed to “briefly meet” him for the first time in the late evening of 12 February 2008.
19.  On 18 February 2008, when the term of the applicant’s administrative detention expired, criminal proceedings were instituted against him in connection with the burglary of the B. family’s home and, without leaving the police premises, he was re-arrested as a suspect in the case. According to the arrest report, the applicant was arrested on the grounds that he had been identified by an eyewitness. The relevant entry in the arrest record suggests that the applicant expressed his wish to be assisted by a lawyer before the first questioning.
20.  According to the Government’s submissions, on the same date the applicant was questioned as a suspect. He admitted his guilt in respect of the burglary and provided the relevant details. Before the questioning, he had been apprised of his procedural rights and waived his right to legal assistance. Copies of the interview record, as well as of the waiver and the note on acquaintance with procedural rights, submitted to the Court by the Government, bear a visible handwritten correction of their dates: from an illegible pre-typed to a handwritten “18” February 2008.
21.  The applicant submitted that he had not been questioned on 18 February 2008 and had never waived his right to legal assistance. He alleged that the authorities had forged the documents and that the recorded interview they referred to had in fact taken place in the investigator’s room on 7 February 2018, during his administrative detention (see paragraph 13 above).
22.  On 19 February 2008, at the applicant’s request, Ms I. was admitted to the proceedings as his defence counsel. Thereafter, the applicant was assisted throughout the proceedings either by her or by another lawyer, Mr M., appointed by the applicant’s father.
23.  On 20 and 25 February 2008 the applicant was questioned in the presence of his lawyer. He denied his guilt in respect of the burglary and refused to make any further statement in that respect.
24.  On 21 February 2008 the Sambir Town Court remanded the applicant in custody as a preventive measure pending trial.
25.  On the same day an expert from the Sambir Town Forensic Examination Bureau examined the applicant on the investigator’s instruction with a view to establishing whether he had any injuries and, if so, their location and nature, and whether they could have been caused by a free fall from one’s height or by falling onto some objects. The applicant told the expert that he had been beaten at Drogobych police station on 7 February 2008, including with a stool leg. The examination report was completed on 4 March 2008. It documented inflammation at the base of the first finger on both hands (осадження шкіри в ділянках основи перших пальців на обох руках), which could have been caused by blunt hard objects, possibly on the date and in the circumstances as described by the applicant. The injury was assessed as a minor one and not typical of a free fall from a man’s height. In addition, the expert noted that the applicant’s right foot was in a plaster cast during the examination and that on 4 March 2008 a radiologist from the Lviv Regional Diagnostic Centre had examined an X-ray image of 12 February 2008 and found “no signs of traumatic injuries” on the bones of the right foot.
26.  On 31 March 2008 the applicant retracted his earlier confessions and submitted that he had incriminated himself as a result of ill-treatment by the police and that he had not committed the crime in question.
27.  On 24 April 2008, during an identification parade, the victim B. pointed to the applicant as having participated in the burglary of her home. She alleged that she recognised him by his hands and provided the relevant details.
28.  On 4 June 2008 the applicant again denied his participation in the burglary.
29.  On 6 June 2008 the pre-trial investigation was completed and the case against the applicant and his five alleged accomplices was sent to the Sambir District Court of Lviv Region (“the Sambir District Court”) for trial. During the trial, the applicant and his alleged accomplices pleaded not guilty and submitted that their confessions to the burglary had been extracted from them by the police by means of ill-treatment. They relied on the bodily injuries which had been discovered on them shortly after their arrest and on the pending criminal proceedings against the police officers.
30.  On 28 December 2010 the Sambir District Court found the applicant, along with his five co-defendants, guilty of aggravated burglary and sentenced him to nine years’ imprisonment, with confiscation of all his personal property. The court relied on, among other things, the confessions the applicant had made during the pre-trial investigation – in particular, on 7 February 2008 and “during his questioning as a suspect” – even though he had retracted them at the investigation stage and during the trial. The court rejected the applicant’s argument that his statement of voluntary surrender and confession to the police had been extracted from him by means of ill‑treatment. It noted that in accordance with the applicant’s submissions, after his arrest on 6 February 2008 he had been taken first to Sambir police station and then, on 7 February 2008, to Drogobych police station where his alleged ill-treatment had taken place. The court thus concluded that “the applicant had made his confessions to the police on 7 February 2008 at Sambir police station before the physical injuries had been inflicted on him.” The allegations of the applicant’s co-defendants as to their ill‑treatment by the police were also dismissed by the trial court. The term of the applicant’s sentence was to be calculated from 6 February 2008.
31.  The applicant lodged an appeal with the Court of Appeal of Lviv Region (“the Lviv Regional Court”). He submitted, among other things, that his conviction had been based mainly on confessions obtained from him by coercion, as well as on the statements made in a similar way by his co‑defendants.
32.  On 23 November 2011 the Lviv Regional Court upheld the first‑instance court’s judgment. As regards the applicant’s allegation of ill‑treatment and his objection to the use of his self-incriminating statements obtained under duress, the court found that the first-instance court had established that the applicant had made his confession at Sambir police station before being taken to Drogobych police station where the alleged ill‑treatment had taken place. It further relied on the Sambir prosecutor’s findings set out in his decision of 7 March 2008, which had not been appealed against by the applicant, according to which on 7 and 12 February 2008 the applicant himself submitted that he had had twisted his foot on the stairs and that he had had no complaints against the officers of Sambir police station (see paragraph 37 below).
33.  The applicant, both in person and through his lawyer, M., appealed on points of law. In his appeal, the applicant mainly maintained the arguments advanced in his earlier appeal. He emphasised in this connection that the Lviv Regional Court had relied on the results of the investigation of his ill‑treatment allegations conducted by the Sambir prosecutor’s office as the final and conclusive ones, whereas the criminal proceedings in respect of his ill-treatment complaint had been still pending. Lawyer M. mainly challenged the allegedly selective approach to the assessment of evidence and the establishment of the facts.
34.  On 22 January 2013 the Higher Specialised Court for Civil and Criminal Matters (“the HSC”) upheld the judgments of the lower courts. It concluded that the applicant’s guilt had been sufficiently proved by the evidence, including his own confessions. In so far as his allegation of ill‑treatment was concerned, the HSC relied on the reasoning given by the Lviv Regional Court and found that it had correctly dismissed the allegation as unsubstantiated. The complaints of the applicant’s co-defendants about their ill-treatment in police custody with a view to extracting their confessions to the burglary of the B. family were likewise dismissed by the HSC.
35.  On 14 February 2008 lawyer I., acting upon the instructions of the applicant’s relatives, lodged a criminal complaint with the Sambir district prosecutor’s office about the applicant’s ill-treatment and requested that he be given a forensic medical examination. She also complained that the head of Sambir police station had unlawfully obstructed her from meeting with the applicant on 9, 11 and 12 February 2008 and had provided false information as to the applicant’s whereabouts.
36.  On 27 February and 20 March 2008 the applicant’s mother and father respectively complained to the Sambir district prosecutor’s office and the Prosecutor General of the applicant’s ill-treatment in police custody and the police’s failure to provide the applicant with timely medical assistance for his foot injury. The father requested that the applicant be given a forensic medical examination.
37.  On 7 March 2008, in response to the complaints of lawyer I. and the applicant’s mother, the deputy prosecutor of Sambir refused to institute criminal proceedings against the heads of Sambir police station and of the Sambir ITT and a police officer, K., on the grounds that there was no evidence that they had committed any crime. He relied on the applicant’s statements made on 7 and 12 February 2008, according to which nobody had ill-treated him and his foot injury had been caused by accidentally twisting it on the stairs (see paragraphs 13 and 17 above). He noted that the applicant had not complained to him of any ill-treatment shortly after his arrest. The prosecutor forwarded the ill-treatment allegations to the Drogobych prosecutor’s office for further examination. By the same decision, the prosecutor rejected as unsubstantiated the complaints concerning the lack of medical assistance in respect of the applicant’s foot injury and the allegations that his relatives and lawyer had not been allowed to see him.
38.  On 26 March, 9 April and 4 June 2008 the prosecutors refused to institute criminal proceedings in connection with the complaints of the applicant’s ill-treatment. They questioned the applicant, who maintained that he had been ill-treated by the police and submitted a detailed account of the events of 7 February 2008 as outlined in paragraph 13 above, and the police officers, all of whom denied any use of physical force or psychological pressure against the applicant. The prosecutors then relied on the testimony of the officers and on the statements the applicant had made on 7 and 12 February 2008. They also noted the fact that the applicant had remained silent during a court hearing on the application of a preventive measure in respect of him.
39.  On 1 April 2008, 10 May and 10 July 2008 the above-mentioned prosecutors’ decisions of 26 March, 9 April and 4 June 2008 respectively were annulled by supervising prosecutors as unfounded and premature. The prosecutors found the inquiries that had been conducted incomprehensive and of a low professional level and ordered additional investigative steps to be taken.
40.  On 7 and 23 April 2008 at the request of the applicant’s father the applicant underwent another X-ray examination of his right foot. It confirmed that the applicant had a fracture of the fifth metatarsus bone of his right foot.
41.  Between July 2008 and August 2010, in the context of unspecified criminal proceedings against officers of Sambir police station, a number of investigative steps were taken to verify the applicant’s allegations of ill‑treatment. In particular, the applicant and the police officers identified by him were questioned on a number of occasions; reconstructions of the crime scene were conducted (on 29 July and 16 August 2008) and identification parades were carried out (on 16 August and 17 September 2008). The applicant repeated in detail his account of the events and pointed out the persons who had allegedly ill-treated him. On 17, 18 and 30 September 2008 confrontation interviews between the applicant and the police officers were carried out. The officers denied any ill-treatment.
42.  On 12 August 2008, a traumatologist who had examined the applicant on 12 February 2008 was questioned. He confirmed that the applicant had had a fractured foot when he had been admitted to the hospital, and submitted that the applicant had not replied when asked about the origin of his trauma.
43.  On an unspecified date another witness submitted that he had seen police officers holding the applicant under his arms because he had a foot injury. When the witness had asked the applicant what had happened to his foot, the applicant had allegedly replied: “I don’t know”.
44.  On 17 September 2008, following an order given by the prosecutor, comparative X-ray images of the applicant’s feet were made.
45.  On 21 October 2008 the prosecutor ordered a forensic medical examination by a panel of experts from Lviv Regional Forensic Examination Bureau aimed at answering the following questions. Did the applicant sustain traumatic injuries to his right foot and, if so, how serious were the injuries and could they have been inflicted in the circumstances indicated by the applicant during his questioning as a witness and during the reconstruction of the crime scene with his participation? Could the injuries have been sustained in the circumstances indicated in the applicant’s written statement of 7 February 2008, namely that he had twisted his foot on the stairs? Could the injuries have been self-inflicted (intentionally or accidently), without the application of external force, for example by twisting the foot while walking or running? What were the features of the object which could have been used to cause the injuries and could this have been a wooden stool leg, as suggested by the applicant? Could those injuries have been inflicted on 7 February 2008 (between 6 and 12 February 2008) and, if so, what was the precise date of their infliction? Lastly, was it possible to establish how many blows had been inflicted on the applicant and in which order?
46.  On 28 October 2008 the experts’ report answered those questions as follows: the applicant did sustain a fracture of the fifth metatarsus bone of his right foot; the injury could have been caused at the beginning of February 2008, as suggested by the applicant, but it was not possible to state with precision the particular date of infliction; the injury originated from a blunt object and could be classified as “light” in terms of severity; such a fracture would normally be caused by a direct impact on the bone either by inflicting a blow with a blunt object or by falling on the foot from a height, but in the applicant’s case it most likely originated from a blow to his foot with a blunt object such as a wooden stool leg or a wooden bar; the particularities of the applicant’s injury which could be observed on the X‑ray images were not typical of an accidental twisting of the foot; and the last question could not be answered.
47.  On 3 August 2010 the Drogobych interdistrict prosecutor’s office instituted separate criminal proceedings against the officers of Drogobych police station identified by the applicant for abuse of powers in connection with the alleged ill-treatment of the applicant. On 24 December 2010, following questioning of the applicant and the police officers, the criminal investigation was discontinued for lack of evidence of a crime in the police officers’ actions.
48.  On 19 January 2011 the Lviv regional prosecutor’s office quashed the decision of 24 December 2010, having noted that there remained a number of investigative steps yet to be taken in order to establish the truth in the case.
49.  On 21 March 2011 the investigator ordered another medical examination by a panel of experts to answer the same questions as those which had been answered by the forensic experts on 28 October 2008 (see paragraph 45 above). In the prosecutor’s opinion, the experts’ conclusions of 4 March 2008 and 28 October 2008 raised doubts as to their correctness and contradicted the material in the case file.
50.  On 23 January 2012 an additional forensic medical report was delivered by a panel of experts from the Main Forensic Examination Bureau of the Ministry of Health. According to the report, the applicant had a fracture of the fifth metatarsus bone of his right foot which, given the absence of external injuries in the area of the fracture, could have been sustained without the application of external force to the applicant, for example by twisting the foot while walking or running. The experts found that the injury could not have been sustained in the circumstances described by the applicant or by falling from a height. They further noted that the abrasions on both his hands had been caused by a blunt object, but that there was insufficient information in the file to identify the object. The experts concluded that both injuries could have been sustained between 6 and 12 February 2008 and stated that it was not possible to establish the date more precisely. Likewise, it was impossible to establish “the number of blows and ... in which order” they had been administered.
51.  On 20 March 2012 the Drogobych interdistrict prosecutor closed the criminal proceedings against the police officers of Drogobych police station. He relied on the police officers’ denial of any ill-treatment, supported by statements by their colleagues, the applicant’s statement made on 7 February 2008 that he had accidently twisted his foot on the stairs and the results of the forensic medical examination of 23 January 2012, which the prosecutor regarded as the only reliable one. That decision was not appealed against by the applicant. Instead, he complained of ill-treatment in the course of the trial in the criminal case against him (see paragraph 29 above).