5.  The applicant was born in 1973 and is currently serving a prison sentence in Sokyryany Prison no. 67.
6.  In September 2001 the applicant and an acquaintance, F., decided to carry out a carjacking. On the night of 17-18 September 2001 they stopped a taxi for that purpose. F. shot the driver in the head and the two then took him to a forest, where F. and the applicant fired several more shots into the victim and abandoned the body. According to the applicant, he believed that the driver was already dead when he shot at him. When driving the car later on, the applicant and F. encountered the traffic police who ordered them to stop. They did not obey the order and attempted to flee. The applicant threw a grenade at the police, but it went wide. Eventually F., who was driving, lost control of the car, which caused it to stop. The applicant opened fire and seriously wounded one of the police officers.
7.  In order to overcome the applicant’s resistance, the police officers hit him on the head several times with the handle of a gun. He lost consciousness and was handcuffed. His apprehension took place at about 3 a.m. on 18 September 2001.
8.  While the parties were not in dispute as regards the facts summarised above, their account of subsequent events differed.
9.  According to the Government, no further coercive measures were used against the applicant.
10.  According to the applicant, he was seriously ill-treated after his arrest and his account of subsequent events is as follows. In his application form he submitted that once the police had seen him regain consciousness, at about 5 a.m., they had taken him to the Suvorivskyy district police station where they had beaten him. In his observations in reply to those of the Government, the applicant added that he had also been beaten in the two hours between his apprehension and transportation to the police station. The applicant also alleged that upon his arrival at the police station the officers had thrown him to the floor and had started kicking and punching him and hitting him with rubber truncheons. They had allegedly sought to take revenge on him for wounding their colleague and to make him confess to the criminal offences under investigation. The applicant’s beating had allegedly continued until 7 or 8 a.m.
11.  At an unspecified time on the morning of 18 September 2001 a forensic medical expert examined the applicant. As noted in the report of the examination, the applicant was 195 cm tall and was of strong constitution. The following injuries were detected: four painful swellings (two of which were coupled with sores) of up to 4 cm in diameter on the back part of the head and on both temples, two oval bruises on the forehead of 8 x 5 cm and 5 x 4 cm, bruises on both eyelids, a slightly swollen bridge of the nose, bruises on the sides of the nose extending to the eyelids, and linear sores on both wrists. The expert found that the applicant could have sustained the injuries in question in the course of his arrest. The applicant stated to the expert that he had not been beaten in police custody.
12.  According to the applicant, his medical examination was limited to the visible parts of his body not covered by clothes, and the expert failed to document the many bruises that covered the rest of his body. The applicant also alleged that the police officers had talked to the doctor in private before the examination. Furthermore, they had allegedly threatened the applicant that if he complained they would kill him.
13.  As further submitted by the applicant, on 29 September 2001 the police tried to transfer him from the Kherson Temporary Detention Facility (“the ITT”, part of the police system) to the Kherson Pre-Trial Detention Centre (“the SIZO”), but the SIZO’s administration refused to admit him because of his many injuries.
14.  On 5 October 2001 the applicant was transferred to the SIZO, where a doctor examined him. No injuries were documented. The applicant submitted to the Court, without providing any further details, that the report of the examination had been wrongly dated as 8 October 2001 (instead of 5 October) and that it had been false.
15.  The applicant stated that throughout his detention in the ITT, from 18 September to 5 October 2001, he had been subjected to torture such as the administration of electric shocks, being suspended from a horizontal metal bar while his hands were handcuffed behind his back, suffocation with a gas mask and plastic bag, and having his fingers crushed in doors. The applicant also alleged that police officers had jumped on his chest from a desk while he lay on the floor.
16.  With his observations to the Court of 16 July 2014 the applicant submitted a handwritten copy of a complaint to the Kherson regional prosecutor’s office (“the Kherson prosecutor’s office”) dated 5 October 2001 (with a handwritten confirmation by two inmates that the applicant had handed the complaint to the guard on duty for dispatching). He complained about his “continual beating, torture and humiliation” following his arrest on 18 September and during his detention in the ITT. He further submitted that the medical examination of 18 September 2001 had been incomplete and that the Kherson SIZO had disregarded his requests for a medical examination and the documentation of various injuries, which he did not specify.
17.  According to another, similar handwritten note submitted to the Court on 16 July 2014, the applicant had on 7 October 2001 complained to the governor of the Kherson SIZO that the guards had torn up his complaints to the prosecution authorities on 5 and 6 October 2001. He also complained that although he had been taken to the SIZO on 5 October 2001 with injuries all over his body, the SIZO official on duty had rejected his request for a medical examination.
18.  According to the applicant, on 9 October 2001 he sent another complaint to the Kherson prosecutor’s office.
19.  On 18 February 2002 a forensic medical report was issued in respect of the applicant’s injuries following his arrest. Having studied the case file, the forensic expert stated that the applicant had had a hemorrhage in the soft tissues of his head, sores and bruises on his face and scalp, and sores on his wrists. The injuries in question could have been inflicted on 18 September 2001 in the circumstances the applicant had described during his questioning as an accused (that is resulting from being hit on the head with the handle of a gun). The expert classified the injuries as minor. There is no further information in the case file about the report or where it was used.
20.  The applicant raised his complaint of ill-treatment during his trial at the Kherson Regional Court of Appeal (“the Kherson Court”, see, in particular, paragraphs 40 and 41 below). As a result, on 21 May 2003 a trial court judge requested that the Kherson prosecutor’s office carry out an investigation into the matter.
21.  On 30 May 2003 the Kherson prosecutor’s office refused to open a criminal case against the police officers for lack of corpus delicti in their actions. The prosecutor relied on the statements of the police officers, who denied ill-treating the applicant and his co-defendants, as well as on documents from the SIZO administration, which stated that no injuries had been found on the defendants during their medical examinations and that they had not raised any complaints. According to the applicant, he had only been able to familiarise himself with the prosecutor’s decision after almost a year, on 2 March 2004.
22.  As the applicant and his co-defendants maintained their complaints during the trial, in June 2003 the judge once again requested that the prosecution authorities investigate the matter.
23.  On 7 November 2003 the Kherson prosecutor’s office again refused to open a criminal case against the police officers, using the same reasoning as before.
24.  The applicant challenged that decision before the courts.
25.  On 30 July 2004 a judge at the Kherson Komsomolskyy District Court (“the Komsomolskyy Court”), following a hearing which included the prosecutor but not the applicant or his lawyer, dismissed the applicant’s complaint as unfounded.
26.  On 7 September 2004 the Kherson Court quashed that decision as being formalistic and lacking reasoning. It remitted the case to the same court for fresh examination by a different judge.
27.  On 10 September 2004 the Komsomolskyy Court once again dismissed the applicant’s complaint. This time the applicant’s lawyer was present at the hearing. The judge heard the parties and studied the case file. He noted that the prosecutor had rightly dismissed the applicant’s allegation of ill-treatment after questioning all those involved and studying the relevant reports on the medical examinations.
28.  On 19 October 2004 the Kherson Court, siting as a panel of three judges, upheld that decision and its reasoning.
29.  On 3 December 2004 the Supreme Court rejected the applicant’s request for leave to appeal against the above decisions on points of law on the ground that the criminal proceedings against him were still pending.
30.  On 18 September 2001, at about 3 a.m., the applicant was arrested by the traffic police. At 10 a.m. the police drew up a report about his arrest. He was placed in the Kherson ITT.
31.  On the same date criminal proceedings were instituted against the applicant on suspicion of aggravated robbery and murder, illegal arms handling and an attempt on the life of law-enforcement officials. By that time there were already other criminal proceedings pending against him.
32.  On an unspecified date further charges were brought against the applicant and several other people. Overall, the criminal proceedings in question involved twelve suspects and concerned twelve episodes of criminal activity, including numerous counts of theft, robbery and murder, committed between 1998 and 2001.
33.  On 22 September 2001 the Komsomolskyy Court ordered the applicant’s pre-trial detention for an initial period of two months. The court referred to the seriousness of the charges against the applicant and noted that he might abscond or hinder the investigation if at liberty. That decision could be challenged on appeal within three days of its pronouncement. The hearing took place in the presence of the prosecutor, but in the absence of the applicant and his lawyer. According to a handwritten note with the judge’s signature, the applicant was told of the decision on the day it was pronounced. The applicant, however, said that he became aware of it after a considerable delay, which prevented him from lodging an appeal.
34.  On 24 September 2001 the investigator in charge of the case issued a decision to extend the term of the applicant’s detention in the ITT to ten days (instead of the legally allowed maximum of three days, after which the applicant had to be transferred to the local SIZO – see paragraph 77 below). That decision was explained by the need to carry out witness confrontations, crime reconstructions and other investigative measures with the applicant’s participation.
35.  On 12 November 2001 the Komsomolskyy Court extended the applicant’s pre-trial detention to four months on the ground that he was suspected of grave criminal offences and there were no reasons to change the preventive measure. The applicant’s lawyer, who was present at the hearing, did not object. The applicant could appeal against that decision within three days, but did not do so.
36.  On 10 January 2002 the Kherson Court, following a hearing which included the prosecutor, but not the applicant or his lawyer, extended the applicant’s pre-trial detention to six months (until 18 March 2002) on the same grounds as before. That decision was not amenable to appeal. According to the applicant, he only became aware of it after a long delay.
37.  On 1 March 2002 the pre-trial investigation was completed and the applicant and his lawyer received access to the case file.
38.  On 18 March 2002 the applicant complained to both the prosecution authorities and the courts that the period of his pre-trial detention had expired on that date and had not been extended. Accordingly, he requested to be released without delay. It appears that there was no follow-up to his complaints.
39.  On 14 June 2002 the applicant and his co-accused were indicted.
40.  On 5 August 2002 the Kherson Court held a preparatory hearing, during which it decided to keep the applicant in detention. The case file does not contain a copy of that decision.
41.  On 7 December 2004 the Kherson Court found the applicant guilty of the charges and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
42.  On 11 May 2006 the Supreme Court quashed that judgment and remitted the case to the same trial court for fresh examination. It held, in particular, that the applicant’s defence rights had been violated on account of his removal from the hearing, in breach of procedural rules. The Supreme Court also ruled to keep the applicant in detention as a preventive measure, without further reasoning.
43.  On 20 April 2007 the Kherson Court delivered a new judgment convicting the applicant of various criminal offences and sentenced him to fifteen years’ imprisonment.
44.  On 8 April 2008 the Supreme Court quashed that judgment in the part concerning the applicant on the grounds that the trial court had modified the charges against him without respecting the applicable procedural rules. Accordingly, the case was remitted for fresh consideration again. The ruling of the Supreme Court made no mention of any preventive measure in respect of the applicant pending the delivery of a new judgment.
45.  On 29 December 2009 the Kherson Court again found the applicant guilty on a long list charges and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
46.  On 20 September 2011 the Supreme Court quashed that judgment too and remitted the case to the trial court for fresh examination.
47.  On 6 October 2011 the Kherson Court transferred the case to the Bilozerka Town Court (“the Bilozerka Court”) following jurisdiction‑related amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure.
48.  In July, August and September 2012 the applicant applied to the trial court for release on an undertaking not to abscond. He submitted that he had already been detained for over eleven years and that his continued detention was unjustified. He referred, in particular, to the poor conditions of his detention and his deteriorating health. The applicant also noted that he had already settled the victims’ civil claims.
49.  On 19 July, 6 August and 27 September 2012 the Bilozerka Court dismissed the applicant’s applications for release on the grounds that he had failed to show that he would not abscond or hinder the implementation of various procedural decisions if he was released.
50.  On 6 August 2012 the Bilozerka Court discontinued the criminal proceedings against the applicant on a number of charges as they had become time‑barred.
51.  On 8 October 2012 the same court found the applicant guilty of armed robbery, aggravated murder and an attempt on the life of a law‑enforcement official and sentenced him to fifteen years’ imprisonment.
52.  In the absence of any appeals, on 28 October 2012 the judgment became final.
53.  During the daily outdoor walk on 16 August 2005 in the Kyiv SIZO one of the guards allegedly hit the applicant with a rubber truncheon in the stomach and on the hip. The applicant did not submit any further details about that incident.
54.  On 12 September 2005 the applicant was transferred to the Kherson SIZO. According to the authorities, he was examined on the same day by doctors, who did not detect any injuries. The applicant submitted that no such examination had taken place.
55.  On 20 September 2005 the applicant’s lawyer wrote to the governor of the Kherson SIZO that the applicant had complained of having been beaten by a guard in the Kyiv SIZO. The lawyer therefore requested a medical examination of his client.
56.  On 4 October 2005 a commission of three doctors examined the applicant. According to the applicant, that was his first examination in the Kherson SIZO. The doctors documented a 3.5-cm-long brown pigmented linear mark on the side of the applicant’s left hip and a round mark of slightly pigmented skin with irregular edges in the paraumbilical area of the left part of his stomach.
57.  On 6 October 2005 the SIZO administration informed the applicant’s lawyer of the above report.
58.  On 26 October 2005 three doctors examined the applicant again. Their findings were the same as on 4 October 2005. On a later, unspecified date the SIZO governor wrote about the findings to the applicant’s lawyer.
59.  The applicant complained to various authorities that he had been beaten on 16 August 2005 and that his injuries had never been properly documented. His complaints were forwarded to the Kyiv city prosecutor’s office (“the Kyiv prosecutor’s office”).
60.  Extracts from the applicant’s medical records in detention, which were provided to the Court by the Government, contain a copy of a report on a medical examination of the applicant in the Kherson SIZO of 13 February 2006. It mentioned, in particular, that the applicant had pigmented skin marks. Their description was identical to that given in the reports of 4 and 26 October 2005 (see paragraphs 56 and 58 above).
61.  On 22 March 2006 the Kyiv prosecutor’s office wrote to the applicant that his complaints were without basis.
62.  It is not known whether the applicant took that complaint further.
63.  On 5 February 2014 the administration of the Kyiv SIZO informed the Government’s Agent that all the records for 2005 had been destroyed after the expiry of a five-year limit for their storage.
64.  During various unspecified periods from 5 October 2005 until his transfer to Sokyryany Prison on 24 December 2012, the applicant was detained in SIZOs in Kherson, Odessa and Kyiv.
65.  According to the applicant, he was held in overcrowded, unheated and damp cells, with no ventilation and poor lighting. There were allegedly no laundry facilities for detainees, and the cells were infested with insects. The applicant also contended that his cell mates had smoked all the time and that he had been exposed to passive smoking. He submitted numerous statements by his cellmates confirming the accuracy of the above description of their conditions of detention. The applicant also submitted several colour photographs of his cells in the Kherson and Kyiv SIZOs showing, in particular, tight metal grids on the windows, an extremely small space between the various items of furniture in the cell, poor sanitary facilities, and a lavatory which could be seen from the door.
66.  According to the Government, the conditions of the applicant’s detention were acceptable. They noted that the parts of the Kherson SIZO where he had been detained in 2005 had been demolished since that time because they had been dilapidated and not subject to capital repairs. The Government therefore submitted that they could not provide any more details about the conditions of detention there.
67.  During his transportation between the SIZOs and to court hearings, the applicant was allegedly handcuffed at all times (sometimes for up to thirty-two hours), not given sufficient food and water, deprived of sleep and unable to use the toilet when needed.
68.  The applicant complained about the conditions of his transportation to the prosecution authorities and sought to bring criminal charges against the escorting officers concerned.
69.  On 29 June 2006 the Kyiv Garrison Military Prosecutor’s Office refused to open criminal proceedings against the escorting officers owing to a lack of corpus delicti in their actions. The applicant unsuccessfully challenged that decision before the courts at three levels of jurisdiction.
70.  According to the Government, the conditions of the applicant’s transportation were not in breach of his rights.
71.  The applicant also alleged that during his detention his health had seriously deteriorated. In particular, he had contracted tuberculosis and had had unspecified heart problems, for which he had not obtained adequate medical treatment. His requests for medical assistance had allegedly been refused by the authorities.
72.  The Government provided the Court with detailed information in chronological order about the applicant’s health and the medical care provided to him in detention. His health-related concerns included the residual effects of tuberculosis (contracted in 2003), micro-cardiosclerosis, and some digestive disorders. As can be seen from the applicant’s medical file, he had regular medical examinations and received treatment for his health problems.
73.  In January 2007 the Court asked the applicant to submit copies of his cassation appeals against the judgment of 7 December 2004, showing the dates he had lodged them with the courts dealing with the criminal case against him.
74.  On 11 March and 25 April 2007 the applicant asked the trial court to provide him with copies of all his cassation appeals and those of his co‑defendants.
75.  On 7 May 2007 the trial court judge dealing with the criminal case in question wrote to the applicant that there were no grounds to grant his request as he had already received all the copies he had asked for, which was confirmed by acknowledgments of receipt with his signature in the case file. Furthermore, the judge noted that the applicant had also been given the possibility to familiarise himself with the case file.