5.  The applicant was born in 1969 and lives in Orenburg.
6.  In June and July 2006 the investigation division of the Leninskiy district police department of Orenburg instituted criminal proceedings into robberies committed by an organised group.
7.  On 30 August 2006 the applicant was arrested by the Department for Combating Organised Crime of Orenburg regional police (“the UBOP”) on suspicion of having committed the robberies.
8.  On 31 August 2006 he was questioned as an accused in the presence of his lawyer and denied being involved in the crimes.
9.  On 1 September 2006 the Leninskiy District Court of Orenburg extended the term of the applicant’s arrest, and on 4 September 2006 ordered that he be detained on remand and placed in pre-trial detention facility IZ-65/1 (“the SIZO”).
10.  At an unspecified time on 18 September 2006 the applicant was taken from the SIZO to the UBOP building without his lawyer being present. There are no records of any investigative actions having been carried out that day with his participation.
11.  According to the applicant, once he arrived at the UBOP offices five or six police officers, including L. and G., beat him in order to force him to confess to the robberies and subjected him to ill-treatment as follows. They shackled his hands and legs and tied his arms with a belt. They pushed him to the ground and almost suffocated him by putting a plastic bag and a gas mask over his head that cut off his air. They later took him to the basement of the building, which was equipped as a gym. They hung him on the parallel bars and hit him on the kidneys and extremities with a baseball bat. The applicant fainted several times so they burned him with cigarettes to make him come around.
12.  At 9 p.m. the applicant was taken back to the SIZO. A routine examination by the medical assistant on duty, in the presence of a duty officer, revealed the following injuries: (i) a haematoma measuring 1 cm by 1 cm on the left frontal bone of the skull; (ii) hyperaemia (redness) measuring 1.5 by 3 cm on the right side of the forehead; (iii) a red and blue haematoma measuring 2 cm by 3 cm on the right shin; (iv) hyperaemia measuring 1 cm by 1 cm on both buttocks; and (v) hyperaemia measuring 2.5 by 4 cm on the right side of the lumbar region (medical report no. 249 of 18 September 2006, акт медицинского освидетельствования).
13.  According to the additional medical records on the applicant from the SIZO for the period from 19 to 23 September 2006, he complained of headache, nausea, dizziness, vomiting and pain on the left side of his body when breathing. He had twitching eyelids and hand tremors. He was diagnosed with neurocirculatory dystonia of a hypertensive type and received treatment.
14.  On 20 September 2006 the applicant went for questioning and his lawyer, Ms S., noticed that he had injuries on his forehead which he had not had before, that he looked unwell and had difficulty moving. The next day she asked for a forensic medical examination.
15.  On 23 September 2006, K., an investigator at the investigation division of the Orenburg regional police department in charge of the applicant’s criminal case, ordered a forensic medical expert opinion on the applicant on the basis of medical records after considering the lawyer’s request, the report on the examination of the applicant at the SIZO on 18 September 2006, and a report by Officer L. of the UBOP which stated that the applicant had caused the injuries to himself. K. wanted to know whether the applicant had any injuries and, if so, when and how they had been inflicted, whether they could have been inflicted as a result of a fall or as a result of harming himself, as described by Officer L., and whether the injuries were compatible with him being detained and participating in investigative actions in his case.
16.  According to L.’s report, the applicant had been brought to the UBOP on 18 September 2006 as part of actions taken under the investigation, and had been taken to L.’s office for an interview. The applicant had jumped up from his chair and “hit his forehead and face on the corner of the chair with some force while shouting that he had to be taken back to the SIZO; he became hysterical, fell on the wooden floor, which had a linoleum covering, and started rolling around on the floor, hitting himself against wooden chairs and tables”.
17.  On 25 September 2006 the Promyshlennyy district prosecutor’s office received a communication from the SIZO concerning the applicant’s injuries. According to the applicant’s statements to the prosecutor’s office, the UBOP officers had subjected him to ill‑treatment on 18 September 2006 in order to force him to confess to the crimes. He remembered the name of one of them, L. On 27 September 2006 the applicant lodged a formal complaint with the district prosecutor’s office, requesting the prosecution of the police officers.
18.  On 6 October 2006, following a pre-investigation inquiry, S., an investigator at the Promyshlennyy district prosecutor’s office of Orenburg, found that the applicant’s allegations had not been confirmed. Relying on Article 24 § 1 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, he refused to institute criminal proceedings on the grounds that no crime had been committed. The investigator relied on L.’s denial of ill-treating the applicant.
19.  On the same day the Promyshlennyy district deputy prosecutor annulled the investigator’s decision as unlawful and ordered an additional inquiry.
20.  On 25 October 2006 two forensic medical experts found after examining the applicant’s medical records that he had haematomas on the left frontal bone and right shin, which had been caused either by hard, blunt objects, or as a result of hitting such objects, one to three days before his examination on 18 September 2006. They could have been caused by the applicant simply falling down or as a result of self-inflicted injuries, as described in L.’s report. The hyperaemia on the forehead, buttocks and lumbar region was not considered as an injury and its gravity could not be assessed because it was an immediate and reversible reaction to some “irritant effect”, including “mechanical impact”.
21.  On 27 October 2006 S. again refused to open a criminal case, citing the same grounds. In addition to L.’s evidence, the investigator relied on similar statements by Officer G., who had also been present at the time the applicant had allegedly injured himself, and on the forensic medical experts’ report of 25 October 2006.
22.  The applicant appealed against the decision of 27 October 2006, arguing, inter alia, that the inquiry had not been thorough and that the State’s responsibility had been engaged under Article 3 of the Convention because he had received injuries during his detention that had been confirmed by medical evidence. The applicant referred to the Court’s case‑law, stating that the burden of proof in such a situation was on the State and that it had to provide evidence which could cast doubt on the applicant’s allegations. The applicant argued that relying on the police officers’ statements was clearly insufficient.
23.  On 19 September 2007 a judge at the Promyshlennyy District Court of Orenburg dismissed the applicant’s complaint. The court held that the inquiry had been thorough and comprehensive, it had not found any facts to confirm the applicant’s ill‑treatment, the medical experts’ conclusions had been consistent with the police officers’ statements and the refusal to institute criminal proceedings had been lawful and well-founded. On 25 October 2007 the Orenburg Regional Court dismissed an appeal by the applicant and fully endorsed the District Court’s findings.
24.  On 6 March 2008 the Orenburg Regional Court convicted the applicant on several counts of robbery and sentenced him to twelve years and four months’ imprisonment. It stated that the applicant’s allegations of ill-treatment were unfounded, relying on the findings of the pre‑investigation inquiry and the statements by L. and the other police officers and investigators denying any wrongdoing on their part.
25.  On 24 November 2008 a deputy head of the investigation department of the Orenburg town prosecutor’s office dismissed an appeal by the applicant against the investigator’s decision of 27 October 2006, considering that the inquiry had been thorough and objective.