5.  The applicant was born in 1969 and lives in Zagreb.
6.  On 20 December 2012 at 4.55 p.m. V.B. and I.J., police officers of IV police station in Zagreb, caught the applicant in the act of attempting to rob an exchange office in Zagreb. The applicant started to run and fell. The police officers then arrested him. During his arrest some money fell out of the applicant’s pockets.
7.  According to the Government, since the applicant was resisting arrest, the police officers had to apply force (the so-called armlock technique).
8.  According to the applicant, he was beaten by the police officers while lying on the ground.
9.  At 5 p.m. officers D.P. (the chief officer on duty in the IV Zagreb police station) and N.V. (the deputy head of IV Zagreb police station) were informed of the use of force against the applicant. The applicant was taken to the police station at 5.15 p.m. The applicant complained to Officer S.P. that his shoulder hurt. S.P. informed D.P. of this and the latter ordered that the emergency medical service be called. At 5.56 p.m. D.P. informed the Zagreb police operative centre about the use of force against the applicant. The applicant was seen by an emergency doctor between 7.40 p.m. and 7.57 p.m. He was transferred to the Sisters of Charity Hospital in Zagreb (Klinički bolnički centar Sestre milosrdnice) and was seen there by a surgeon at 8.11 p.m. An X-ray examination revealed that the applicant’s right shoulder was broken. The applicant told the doctor that he had fallen during his arrest. He was provided with medical assistance for these injuries and then returned to the police station at 9.40 p.m. Officer D.P. questioned the applicant in connection with the criminal offence for which he had been arrested and the applicant stated that he wished to remain silent.
10.  The applicant was again seen by a surgeon in the same hospital on 24 December 2012 and surgery was recommended.
11.  The applicant was hospitalised in the Sisters of Mercy Hospital between 27 and 31 December 2012. He underwent surgery and it was established that his shoulder was broken in four places; his upper arm was also broken. He had an artificial shoulder implanted.
12.  An internal investigation into the use of force against the applicant was immediately initiated within the Zagreb police on 20 December 2012. Officer D.P. took a statement from the applicant who said that he had sustained an injury “by the police officers” and that he did “not want to say anything else”. Officers V.B. and I.J. compiled a joint report on the use of force against the applicant. Later on, each of them provided a separate report. All these reports alleged that the applicant, in attempting to flee from the police officers, had fallen and that while on the ground had actively resisted the police officers, who had then applied the armlock technique and handcuffed him.
13.  On 21 December 2012 an internal police investigator of the Zagreb police, officer A.L., compiled a report on the basis of the documents, statements from Officers V.B., I.J. and D.P. and his interview with the applicant. In his report A.L. stated that the applicant had attempted to run from the said officers and had fallen. While on the ground he had actively resisted arrest and the officers had applied the armlock technique. A.L. concluded that the applicant had resisted the police officers since some money had fallen out of his clothes. A.L. was of the opinion that the force applied by officers V.B. and I.J. against the applicant had had a “basis in law and [had been] justified”.
14.  On 21 December 2012 the head of IV police station in Zagreb, S.T., compiled a report for the public-order division of the Zagreb police, on the basis of the report of A.L. S.T. stated that the applicant had said that he had fallen and that the police officers had caught him and applied force against him and denied that he had resisted arrest. In a short report of 28 December 2012 the head of the Zagreb police, G.B., concluded that the information gathered had shown that the use of force by Officers V.B. and I.J. against the applicant had been lawful and justified.
15.  On 28 December 2012 the head of the Zagreb police informed the head of IV police station in Zagreb that, on the basis of the report of A.L., he considered the force used by officers V.B. and I.J. against the applicant to have had a “basis in law and [to have been] justified”
16.  On 3 January 2013 the head of the Zagreb police sent the case file concerning the internal police investigation to the Internal Control Service of the Ministry of the Interior. Upon inspecting the file the Internal Control Service instructed the police to forward the file to the Zagreb Municipal State Attorney’s Office (hereinafter the “ZMSAO”) for further assessment.
17.  On the instructions of the head of the Zagreb police, on 5 February 2013 the IV police station in Zagreb sent a report on the events at issue together with the applicant’s medical report to the ZMSAO. The documents in the case file do not indicate that the ZMSAO carried out any further steps at that time.
18.  On 6 February 2013, upon a request by the applicant’s lawyer, the head of the IV police station in Zagreb shortly informed the applicant’s lawyer that the force used against the applicant by the two police officers had had a basis in law and had been justified. The applicant’s request to have access to the internal report on the use of force against him was denied on 11 February 2013 on the grounds that it was a classified document.
19.  On 15 May 2013 the head of IV police station in Zagreb compiled a report for the legal, financial and technical tasks division of the Zagreb police, where he described in detail the events at issue and the results of the internal police investigation with a final conclusion that the use of force against the applicant had had a basis in law and had been justified.
20.  On 28 July 2014 the applicant lodged a criminal complaint with the ZMSAO against Officers V.B. and I.J.
21.  The applicant alleged that during his arrest on 20 December 2012 police officers V.B. and I.J. had forced him to the ground and then hit, kicked and verbally insulted him and unnecessarily twisted his arm, owing to which he had sustained injuries, such as a broken arm and shoulder. The officers had then taken him to a police station where they continued to beat him. Only after three hours had he been taken to hospital. The doctors had recommended urgent surgery but the police officers had not allowed it. Instead, they had taken him back to the police station where they had continued to hit and insult him. In the evening he had been admitted to Zagreb Prison.
22.  The prosecuting authorities obtained the statements previously given by the applicant and the police officers involved.
23.  The ZMSAO attempted to contact the applicant on six occasions between 27 November 2014 and 15 September 2015. However, these attempts were unsuccessful since the applicant had changed his address and had not replied to the telephone calls on the mobile telephone number provided by his lawyer.
24.  In July and August 2015 the ZMSAO obtained the medical documentation concerning the applicant’s injuries and medical treatment.
25.  On 13 October 2015 the ZMSAO interviewed the applicant, who said that during his arrest on 20 December 2012 one of the police officers, when applying the armlock technique, had broken his right arm. He had complained to the officers of intense pain but they had ignored his complaints. During his transport to the police station he had again complained about the pain in his arm but the officers had only told him to shut up. Upon his arrival at the police station he had continued to complain about the pain in his arm, but had been ignored. Only after a few hours had a doctor been called. The applicant admitted that he had told the doctor that he had sustained the injury to his right arm and shoulder when he had fallen during his arrest. He also said that during the arrest and later on in the police station, none of the police officers had hit or kicked him. He said that in the relevant period he had been abusing both alcohol and drugs.
26.  On 2 and 3 December 2015 Officers V.B., I.J. and D.B. also gave their statements denying any excessive use of force against the applicant.
27.  On 8 January 2016 the ZMSAO interviewed J.H., an employee of the exchange office where the applicant had attempted the robbery. She had also witnessed the applicant’s arrest and said that she had not seen the police officers hitting or kicking the applicant.
28.  On 13 January 2016 the ZMSAO interviewed B.Z., a witness to the applicant’s arrest, who said that the applicant had attempted to run from the police and had fallen and that he had not seen any police officers hitting or kicking the applicant.
29.  The investigation is still pending.
30.  On 28 August 2013 the applicant instituted civil proceedings in the Zagreb Municipal Civil Court (Općinski građanski sud u Zagrebu) against the State claiming damages in connection with his alleged ill-treatment by the police during his arrest and stay in the police station.
31.  Those proceedings are still pending.