4.  The applicant was born in 1962. He currently serves a prison sentence in the Mykolayiv Region. 5.  On 12 October 1998 the police instituted criminal proceedings against the applicant on suspicion of extortion. 6.  On 28 December 1999, following the completion of the pre-trial investigations, the case was referred to the Tsentralnyy District Court of Simferopol, which on 4 May 2000 remitted the case for additional investigations. 7.  On 14 September 2000, following the completion of the additional investigations, the case was referred to the same court. 8.  Following three reconsiderations of the case by the courts of first and appeal instances, on 2 February 2005 the Tsentralnyy Court found the applicant guilty as charged and sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment with confiscation of property. 9.  On 29 March 2005 and 28 February 2006 respectively the Crimea Regional Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court upheld the above judgment. 10.  According to the Government, in the course of the proceedings against the applicant the investigators also brought charges against five other persons (in respect of three of them the criminal proceedings were subsequently discontinued) and questioned eighty-seven witnesses and four aggrieved parties. During the trial the courts had to hear three co-defendants, forty witnesses and several aggrieved parties, which took them about four months. One forensic examination was carried out between 26 May and 18 July 2000. Twenty hearings were adjourned due to the witnesses', aggrieved parties' or co-defendants' failure to appear or illness of a judge.