4.  The applicant was born in 1935 and lives in the town of Snizhne, Donetsk region.
5.  On 14 January 2004 the applicant’s son, born in 1967, was found dead in the applicant’s barn. On the same day police officers inspected the scene and reported that the man had committed suicide by hanging.
6.  On 24 January 2004 the investigator of the Snizhne Prosecutor’s Office, following the pre-investigation inquiries, refused to initiate criminal proceedings on the grounds that no elements of a crime had been established in relation to the death of the applicant’s son.
7.  On 11 February 2004, following a forensic medical examination, an expert concluded that the applicant’s son’s death had been caused by strangulation by a loop of rope, possibly as a result of the applicant’s son’s body weight pulling against the rope. The body displayed no other injuries.
8.  On 5 April 2005 the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office quashed the decision of 24 January 2004 (see paragraph 6 above) as premature and unfounded, finding that further pre-investigation inquiries were necessary given that the possible reasons for suicide had not been examined, and other relatives as well as acquaintances of the deceased had not been questioned either. Numerous investigating instructions were given.
9.  In the course of further pre-investigation inquiries, between 2005 and 2012, the investigators took measures to establish the circumstances of the applicant’s son’s death. They questioned various persons, and ordered numerous additional medical examinations of the corpse of the deceased. At a certain point medical experts noted that the applicant’s son’s body had numerous fractures. The experts opined that all those fractures had been inflicted after the applicant’s son’s death, possibly during the exhumation of the body. The applicant’s husband informed the authorities that when he had seen his dead son in the barn, the corpse of his son had been in a sitting position and the rope loop had not been tightened. The applicant argued that it had not been suicide but a violent murder. She advanced different theories, suspecting notably: police security guards who had allegedly taken the applicant’s son from a local bar, following which he had been found dead; a local police officer who had engaged in a dispute with the applicant’s son; a woman who had been employed by the applicant’s son in his textile business and her husband; the applicant’s son’s brothers-in-law; a business partner of the applicant’s son; and people from a local gambling club (the applicant’s son had been engaged in transporting money from the club to another town).
10.  On 25 April 2005, 26 March 2006, 20 August 2008, 17 February and 12 December 2011, 15 February 2012 and 17 September 2012, following the pre-investigation inquiries, the investigators refused to initiate criminal proceedings on the grounds that no elements of a crime had been established. Those decisions were quashed as unsubstantiated by the supervising authorities, which found that further investigative measures were necessary. Numerous investigating instructions were given.
11.  On 7 December 2012 the applicant, relying on the new Code of Criminal Procedure of 2012, requested that an investigation be opened in respect of the alleged murder of her son. On the same day criminal proceedings were instituted.
12.  On 24 December 2012, 22 July and 30 September 2013 the criminal proceedings were terminated because no elements of a crime could be established. Those decisions were quashed by the supervising authorities as unsubstantiated and further investigations were ordered. In particular, on 5 December 2013 the Snizhne Town Court quashed the decision of 30 September 2013 after finding that the investigation had not been thorough and comprehensive. The court noted the theory of the possible involvement of the local police had not been properly examined, the role of the applicant’s son’s brother-in-law had not been clarified even though he might have been the first to find the dead body, the applicant had not been questioned on all the issues which were relevant to the case, and the evidence relating to the applicant’s son’s suicidal tendencies had not been assessed.
13.  On 1 April 2014 the criminal proceedings were closed one more time on the ground that no elements of a crime could be established.