9.  The first applicant was born in 1942 and at the time of the events he lived in Baku. 10.  He was a linguist and worked at the Linguistic Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He was of Talysh ethnicity and carried out research on the Talysh language. He also worked as editor-in-chief of the Tolishi Sado, a bilingual Azerbaijani-Talysh newspaper, and regularly published articles therein. 11.  At around 4 p.m. on 2 February 2007 the first applicant was arrested by agents of the MNS in Javid Park in Baku. He was taken to the premises of the MNS where he was questioned for twenty-three hours about his alleged collaboration with the Iranian intelligence service. 12.  He was deprived of water and food and was kept awake. He was also subjected to physical violence. In particular, the fingers of his right hand were several times squashed with a door and he got injuries on his left shoulder. His ill-treatment was stopped owing to his high blood pressure. 13.  At around 4 p.m. on 3 February 2007 the MNS’s agents took the first applicant by car to the area near the Elmler Akademiyasi metro station in Baku and released him there. The applicant was not provided with any document concerning his arrest and detention. 14.  Immediately after his release while the first applicant crossed the road, a police officer approached and arrested him because of his alleged failure to comply with the police officer’s request to identify himself. He was taken to Yasamal District Police Station no. 28, where an administrative-offence record was drawn up by police officers. The first applicant refused to sign the record. 15.  On the same day the first applicant was taken to the Yasamal District Court and appeared before a judge. The judge found him guilty under Article 310 § 1 (failure to comply with a lawful order of a police officer) of the Code of Administrative Offences and sentenced him to fifteen days’ administrative detention. 16.  On 5 February 2007 the first applicant’s lawyer appealed against that decision. He claimed that the first applicant’s administrative conviction had been totally unjustified and that the first-instance court had not examined any evidence proving his guilt. His lawyer further noted that the first applicant had been ill-treated on the premises of the MNS, where he had been unlawfully detained from 4 p.m. on 2 February 2007 to 4 p.m. on 3 February 2007. In that connection, the lawyer submitted that there were bruises on his hand and asked the court to order his forensic examination. The relevant part of the complaint reads as follows:
“It appeared at the court hearing [before the first-instance court] that N. Mammadov [the first applicant] had also been subjected to physical violence. In fact, the existence of bruises on his left hand was clearly seen.” 17.  On 9 February 2007 the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and upheld the first-instance court’s decision. The appellate court’s decision made no mention of the lawyer’s particular requests and complaints. The hearing was held in the absence of the first applicant. 18.  Following his administrative conviction on 3 February 2007 by the Yasamal District Court, he was returned to the premises of the MNS where he was kept until 17 February 2007. He was again ill-treated by MNS agents during that period. In particular, although he suffered from hypertension, prostatitis and hyperthyroidism, he was not provided with the relevant medical care and medication. He was questioned in general at night and no record was drawn up in respect of those interviews. He was given false information about his family according to which his two sons had also been arrested and detained in the next cells and that his wife had been hospitalised and was suffering from a serious disease. He was not provided with clean clothing during this period. His family was not informed of his place of detention. 19.  It appears from the documents in the case file that an investigator at the MNS, N.Z., compiled on 9 February 2007 a record on the first applicant’s questioning as a witness on the premises of the MNS. The investigator questioned him about his travels to and relations with Iran. 20.  The Government submitted that they had been unable to obtain the files of the case concerning the first applicant’s administrative detention as they had been destroyed owing to the expiration of their term of storage. For this reason, the Government were not able to clarify the conditions of the first applicant’s detention and treatment to which he had been subjected during this period. 21.  As the first applicant’s family had no information about his place of detention following his administrative conviction, his lawyer sent numerous letters and telegrams to the MNS, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Court of Appeal asking for information about the first applicant’s place of detention. The lawyer also indicated in his submissions that there were bruises on the first applicant’s hand, and that the first applicant had to follow a special diet and be provided with the relevant medication because of his state of health. 22.  In reply to the above-mentioned requests, by a letter of 9 February 2007 the MNS informed the lawyer that the first applicant had not been arrested or detained on their premises. By a letter of 16 February 2007 the Ministry of Internal Affairs also informed the lawyer that the first applicant had not been taken to or detained in the detention facilities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. 23.  On 15 February 2007 the second applicant lodged a request with the Prosecutor General asking for the first applicant’s forensic examination in the presence of his lawyer. In that connection, she noted that at the hearing of 3 February 2007 before the Yasamal District Court the first applicant’s family members had noticed injuries to the index finger of his right hand. She further noted that she had not been informed of his place of detention and that the first applicant could not live without his medication because of his state of health. 24.  By a letter dated 20 February 2007 the Prosecutor General’s Office informed the second applicant that her request concerning the allegedly unlawful actions taken against her husband had been transferred to the Baku City Prosecutor’s Office and that she would be informed of the outcome. 25.  It appears from the case file that on 7 April 2007 the investigator in charge of the case ordered the first applicant’s forensic examination. According to forensic report no. 32/TM, during his examination by the expert on 12 April 2007, the first applicant complained of having been ill‑treated on the premises of the MNS on 2 February 2007. In particular, he stated that the index finger of his right hand had been squashed with a chair and that he had been struck on his left rib cage. The expert concluded that there was not at that time any objective sign of injury on the first applicant’s body. The first applicant was not provided with a copy of the report. Despite the Court’s explicit request to the Government to submit copies of all the documents relating to the domestic proceedings, the Government failed to provide the Court with a copy of the above-mentioned forensic report. 26.  On 8 October 2007 the first applicant lodged an action with the Sabail District Court, asking the court to find violations of his rights protected under Articles 3, 5 and 14 of the Convention. He alleged, inter alia, that he had been ill-treated by agents of the MNS between 2 and 17 February 2007, that his arrest and detention on the premises of the MNS from 2 to 3 February 2007 had been unlawful, and that he had been discriminated against on the grounds of his ethnicity. The part of the complaint concerning the first applicant’s ill-treatment reads as follows:
“It appeared from the submissions that he [the first applicant] made to his representative in the presence of the investigator on 17 February 2007 that, although he had not officially asked for medical aid, he suffered from hypertension, prostatitis and poor eyesight. During the period when he had been administratively detained on the premises of the MNS, he had been subjected to unrecorded interviews with 200/220 mm Hg blood pressure, he had not been provided with the relevant medication, and on several occasions, he had not been allowed to go to the toilet with the intention of breaking his will.
... N. Mammadov had been threatened on several occasions and had been given false information according to which his two sons had also been arrested and detained in the next cells and his wife had been hospitalised on account of a serious heart disease ...
Although the application and request of his wife and representative concerning the violence against N. Mammadov had been addressed to the Prosecutor General’s Office, those complaints had been sent first to the Yasamal District Prosecutor’s Office and the Baku City Prosecutor’s Office, and then again to the Prosecutor General’s Office. The latter sent the complaints made on 9 March for a legal assessment two months later to the Investigation Department of the MNS. They were dealt with with delay on purpose so that the visible trace of injuries to the index finger of his right hand would disappear and recover; and the forensic examination had been ordered only in April 2007.” 27.  On 18 October 2007 the Sabail District Court, which examined the action under the procedure established by Articles 449-51 of the Code of Criminal Procedure concerning appeals against the prosecuting authorities’ actions and decisions, dismissed it without addressing any of the first applicant’s particular complaints. 28.  On 24 October 2007 the first applicant appealed against that decision, reiterating his previous complaints. 29.  On 16 November 2007 the Baku Court of Appeal upheld the decision of 18 October 2007. 30.  On 17 February 2007 the first applicant was charged with the criminal offence of high treason under Article 274 of the Criminal Code. 31.  On the same day the Sabail District Court, relying on the official charges brought against the first applicant and the prosecutor’s request for the preventive measure of remand in custody to be applied, ordered the first applicant’s detention for a period of three months. The judge substantiated the necessity of this measure by the seriousness of the first applicant’s alleged criminal acts, and the possibility of his absconding and obstructing the investigation. 32.  On an unspecified date the first applicant appealed against the Sabail District Court’s decision of 17 February 2007. He claimed, in particular, that there had been no justification for the application of the preventive measure of remand in custody. He also complained that the court had failed to take into account his personal situation, such as his age and his having a permanent place of residence, when it had ordered his detention pending trial. 33.  On 1 March 2007 the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that the detention order was justified. 34.  On 12 May 2007 the Sabail District Court extended the first applicant’s pre-trial detention until 3 August 2007. The court substantiated the need for the extension by the seriousness of the charges and by the necessity of additional time to carry out further investigative steps. 35.  On an unspecified date the first applicant appealed against that decision, claiming that he had not committed any crime and that there was no reason for his continued detention. 36.  On 31 May 2007 the Court of Appeal upheld the first-instance court’s decision. 37.  On 28 July 2007 the Sabail District Court extended the first applicant’s pre-trial detention until 3 December 2007. The court substantiated the necessity of this extension on the grounds that a number of investigative steps needed to be carried out and thus more time was needed to complete the investigation. 38.  On 3 August 2007 the Baku Court of Appeal upheld the first-instance court’s decision. 39.  On 15 November 2007 the first applicant’s case was sent to the Assize Court for trial. 40.  On 7 December 2007 the Assize Court held a preliminary hearing. The first applicant complained at the hearing that he had been ill-treated and had been unlawfully detained on the premises of the MNS and asked the court to return the case to the investigators for a new examination. On the same day the Assize Court dismissed his applications. The court further decided that the preventive measure of remand in custody in respect of the first applicant should remain “unchanged”, as there were no grounds for his release. 41.  In the course of the proceedings before the Assize Court, the first applicant reiterated his previous complaints relating to the alleged violation of his rights protected under Articles 3 and 5 of the Convention. In this regard, he claimed that he had been ill-treated by agents of the MNS between 2 and 17 February 2007 and that he had been unlawfully arrested and detained by them. 42.  It appears from the case file that on 5 March 2008 a judge of the Assize Court ordered the applicant’s forensic medical examination, asking the expert to clarify the conclusions of forensic report no. 32/TM (see paragraph 25 above). Following the first applicant’s examination on 3 April 2008, the expert concluded in his report, no. 54/TM, that there was no objective sign of injury on the first applicant’s body. The expert also concluded that the first applicant’s pain in his left shoulder had not been noted in the conclusions of forensic report no. 32/TM as it had not constituted an objective sign of injury. It further appears from report no. 54/TM that the first applicant complained of pains in his left shoulder and these pains were having an effect on the fourth finger of his left hand. However, there was no sign of injury to his finger or left shoulder. 43.  On 5 March 2008, following a request from the first applicant’s lawyer, a judge at the Assize Court asked the MNS to inform the court, inter alia, whether the first applicant had been on the premises of the MNS on 2, 3 and 9 February 2007, whether he had been questioned on the premises of the MNS on 9 February 2007, and whether he had been subjected to a medical examination and what his diagnosis had been. 44.  In reply to the judge’s letter of 5 March 2008, by a letter dated 16 April 2008 the MNS informed the judge that the first applicant, who was at that time detained in the MNS pre-trial detention facility, had been diagnosed with hypertension and was being provided with the relevant treatment. However, the MNS’s letter was silent as to the judge’s requests for information concerning the first applicant’s presence on the premises of the MNS on 2, 3 and 9 February 2007. 45.  On 24 June 2008 the Assize Court convicted the first applicant of high treason and sentenced him to ten years’ imprisonment and confiscation of his property. The Assize Court also held, relying on the conclusions of forensic report no. 54/TM, that there had been no objective sign of injury to the first applicant’s body. 46.  On 26 December 2008 the Baku Court of Appeal upheld the Assize Court’s judgment of 24 June 2008. 47.  On 27 May 2009 the Supreme Court upheld the Baku Court of Appeal’s judgment of 26 December 2008. 48.  According to the first applicant, he suffered from various medical conditions, including hypertension, prostatitis and hyperthyroidism and poor eyesight before his arrest. He regularly received medical treatment in connection with the above-mentioned conditions. 49.  It appears from the documents in the case file that the first applicant was detained from 17 February 2007 to 25 June 2008 in the MNS pre-trial detention facility, from 25 June 2008 to 14 January 2009 in pre‑trial detention facility no. 1, from 14 January to 28 July 2009 in prison no. 15, and from 28 July 2009 until his death on 17 August 2009 in the medical facility of the Prison Service (“the medical facility”). 50.  It appears from the extracts of the first applicant’s detention-facility medical record (tibbi kitabça) no. 353, as well as from the documents in the case file, that in 2007 and 2008 the first applicant was examined on numerous occasions by doctors. During this period the first applicant’s state of health was stable and he mainly complained of high blood pressure and headaches. According to medical record no. 353, which covered the first applicant’s detention from 17 February 2007, the first applicant was subjected to initial examination (ilk baxış) upon his arrival at the detention facility. The initial examination did not contain references to any injury on his body. The date of the initial examination was not indicated in the medical record, but there was a stamp dated 20 February 2007 on that page of the medical record indicating the result of the first applicant’s blood test. 51.  It appears from two letters dated 1 and 12 September 2007 sent from the first applicant’s lawyer to the head of the MNS pre-trial detention facility that the lawyer asked for information about the first applicant’s medical treatment. The lawyer also expressed his gratitude for the conditions created for the first applicant’s medical treatment in detention. 52.  It also appears from a request from the first applicant dated 30 June 2008 that he asked the head of pre-trial detention facility no. 1 to allow his lawyer to provide him with the medication. 53.  As regards the period of his detention from 14 January to 28 July 2009 in prison no. 15, on 14 January 2009, upon his transfer to that facility, the head of that prison decided to place the first applicant in a punishment cell for a period of fifteen days. It appears from the case file that following the intervention of the Azerbaijani Committee against Torture, a local non-governmental organisation, on 21 January 2009 the first applicant was transferred to a normal cell. 54.  On 26 January and 19 February 2009 the first applicant’s lawyer wrote to the head of prison no. 15, complaining about the first applicant’s conditions of detention. The lawyer noted that the first applicant had been placed in a punishment cell for a period of fifteen days without any reason and asked for a copy of the decision in this regard. The lawyer further submitted that although the first applicant suffered from various medical conditions, he had not been provided with the adequate medical assistance. 55.  On 23 February 2009 the first applicant’s lawyer lodged an action with the Nizami District Court, complaining of the first applicant’s conditions of detention and the violation of his rights protected under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention. In particular, he pointed out that the first applicant had been unlawfully placed in a punishment cell and had not been provided with the adequate medical assistance. 56.  On 6 March 2009 the Nizami District Court partially allowed the action, holding that the first applicant’s placement in a punishment cell had been unlawful. The court also found that the first applicant had not been subjected to a medical examination upon his arrival at the prison and ordered the latter to carry out a medical examination of the first applicant and to provide him with adequate medical care. It further appears from the judgment that the head of the medical department of prison no. 15 stated at the court hearing that he had been on leave when the first applicant had been placed in a punishment cell and that he had requested to be transferred to a normal cell immediately after his return to work. He further stated that the first applicant suffered from hypertension and that he had informed the first applicant of the necessity of his transfer to a specialised medical establishment, but the first applicant had rejected that suggestion. 57.  On 29 March 2009 the first applicant appealed against that judgment, noting that the first-instance court had failed to acknowledge the violation of his rights protected under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention. In particular, he noted that he had been detained from 14 to 21 January 2009 in a punishment cell which had been windy, wet and not heated. He also pointed out that the cell had not received natural light and that he had not been provided with the relevant clothing. During this period, he had been obliged to remain standing from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day as there had been no chair in the cell. In his appeal the first applicant confirmed that the head of the medical department of prison no. 15 had proposed his transfer to a specialised medical establishment. In that connection, he submitted that he had refused that proposal because of his financial situation as he had not considered that he would have been provided with the adequate medical assistance free of charge. 58.  On 16 April 2009 the Baku Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. The appellate court’s decision was not amenable to appeal. 59.  It appears from the documents in the case file that in the meantime, as evidenced by a document dated 30 March 2009 and signed by the first applicant, the latter refused to be transferred to a specialised medical establishment. He substantiated his refusal by the poor quality of medical treatment in that particular medical establishment. 60.  It appears from the documents in the case file that on 7 July 2009 the first applicant again refused to be transferred to a specialised medical establishment. In that connection, he submitted that he had not had any financial means and that he had not thought that he would have been provided with the adequate medical assistance there. 61.  It further appears from the extracts of the first applicant’s medical records that he refused on several occasions to be examined by the doctors. Various medical records were compiled by the doctors in this connection. 62.  On 28 July 2009 the first applicant was transferred upon his consent to the medical facility with the diagnosis of osteochondrosis of the cervical vertebrae (boyun fəqərələrinin osteoxondrozu) and right shoulder plexus (sağ tərəfli çiyin pleksiti). 63.  It appears from a letter dated 14 August 2009 and signed by the head of the medical facility, sent in reply to an information request from the first applicant’s lawyer, that upon his arrival at the medical facility the first applicant mainly complained of neck pains, general weakness and dyspnea. On various dates indicated in the letter the first applicant was examined by a number of specialists, including a neurosurgeon, an endocrinologist, a urologist and an ophthalmologist, who confirmed the diagnosis of osteochondrosis of the cervical vertebrae and right shoulder plexus. The doctors also confirmed that the first applicant suffered from various other medical conditions such as hypertension, prostatitis, acute cholecystitis, bronchitis, hyperthyroidism and cataracts. 64.  On 17 August 2009 the first applicant died. According to the death certificate, the death resulted from an ischemic cerebral infarction (baş beyinin işemik infarktı). 65.  Following the death of the first applicant, the Nizami District Prosecutor’s Office launched a criminal inquiry into the circumstances of his death. 66.  On 18 August 2009 the deputy prosecutor of the Nizami District Prosecutor’s Office ordered a post-mortem examination of the body, which was carried out on the same day, for the purposes of determining the cause of death. Report no. 105 dated 29 August 2009 showed that death had resulted from an acute ischemic cerebral infarction (baş beyinin kəskin işemik infarktı). 67.  On 24 August 2009 the second applicant lodged a request with the Prosecutor General, claiming that the first applicant had died in detention because he had not been provided with the adequate medical treatment after January 2009. In that connection, she submitted that the first applicant’s state of health had worsened following his placement in a punishment cell between 14 and 21 January 2009 in prison no. 15 and that his medical treatment following that had not been adequate. 68.  By a letter dated 27 August 2009, the Baku City Prosecutor’s Office returned the documents of the criminal inquiry to the Nizami District Prosecutor’s Office, finding that the inquiry into the first applicant’s death had not been conducted thoroughly. In particular, the Baku City Prosecutor’s Office held that the Nizami District Prosecutor’s Office had failed to determine the medical conditions from which the first applicant had suffered and whether he had been provided with adequate medical assistance. It further found that the first applicant’s cellmates and the doctors examining him in prison had not been questioned by the prosecuting authorities. 69.  On 31 August 2009 the deputy prosecutor of the Nizami District Prosecutor’s Office ordered a forensic examination by a panel of experts. The prosecutor asked the experts to establish whether the first applicant had been provided with adequate medical assistance, whether his medical conditions had been correctly diagnosed and whether his death had resulted from a lack of adequate medical treatment in detention. 70.  Report no. 177/KES dated 1 September 2009, which examined only the period of the first applicant’s treatment following his transfer to the medical facility on 28 July 2009, showed that the first applicant’s medical conditions had been correctly diagnosed and treated in the medical facility. The three experts furthermore found that, although the first applicant had been suffering from numerous conditions (such as osteochondrosis, hypertension, prostatitis, cataracts), the latter could not have developed during a short period of time and could only have appeared following long pathological processes in his body. The report further found that the death had resulted from a cerebral infarction as a result of thrombosis inside cerebral blood vessels and was not related to his medical treatment. 71.  On 28 September 2009 the deputy prosecutor of the Nizami District Prosecutor’s Office refused to institute criminal proceedings in connection with the first applicant’s death because of the lack of evidence of a crime in his death. He relied in this connection on the findings of the above-mentioned two forensic expert reports, concluding that the first applicant’s medical treatment had been adequate and that there had been no causal link between his medical treatment and death. The decision also referred to the statements from various doctors and the first applicant’s cellmates according to which the medical treatment had been adequate and that the first applicant had not made any complaint in this connection during his treatment. In particular, the head of the medical department of prison no. 15 stated that although the first applicant’s transfer to the medical facility had been proposed on several occasions, he had refused that proposal. 72.  On 21 October 2009 the second and third applicants lodged a complaint against the prosecutor’s decision of 28 September 2009 with the Nizami District Court, asking the court to overrule it. They claimed that the first applicant had not been provided with adequate medical assistance in detention and that his unlawful placement in a punishment cell on 14 January 2009 had resulted in the development of numerous diseases. In that connection, they complained that the first applicant had been transferred to the medical facility only on 28 July 2009, despite the fact that on 6 March 2009 the Nizami District Court ordered prison no. 15 to provide the first applicant with adequate medical care. They further submitted that they had not been provided with a copy of the first applicant’s medical records and the forensic reports relating to his death and that they had been provided with a copy of the prosecutor’s decision of 28 September 2009 only on 19 October 2009. 73.  On 2 November 2009 the Nizami District Court dismissed the complaint. The court found that the first applicant had been provided with adequate medical care. It further noted that although his transfer to the medical facility had been proposed on several occasions before 28 July 2009, he had rejected these proposals. 74.  On 5 November 2009 the second and third applicants appealed against that decision, reiterating their previous complaints. 75.  On 17 November 2009 the Baku Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. As to the argument that the Nizami District Court’s decision of 6 March 2009 had not been executed, the appellate court found that the first applicant had refused to be transferred to the medical facility. That decision was not amenable to appeal.