6.  The applicant was born in 1928 and lives in Turku. 7.  On 16 June 1998 the District Court (käräjäoikeus, tingsrätten) of Vantaa convicted the applicant of aggravated concealment of stolen goods and aggravated forgery, sentencing him to one year and six months’ imprisonment. The applicant and his co-defendants had denied the charges. The District Court referred the complainants’ claims for damages to be pursued in separate civil proceedings once the criminal proceedings had ended. 8.  In his appeal to the Court of Appeal (hovioikeus, hovrätten) of Helsinki the applicant maintained his innocence and, in the alternative, requested that his sentence be reduced or suspended. He also proposed to re-examine witness P., who had already been heard in the District Court. 9.  The Court of Appeal summoned the applicant to attend its oral hearing on 24 May 1999. He failed to do so, allegedly due to his dementia and other age-related illnesses, but was represented by his counsel, who submitted a medical certificate and alluded to the applicant’s dementia. Counsel further stated that the applicant had failed to show up for their joint departure for Helsinki in spite of their prior agreement. 10.  In its decision of the same day the Court of Appeal found that no legally valid excuse had been shown for the applicant’s absence. His appeal was therefore struck out without counsel having been able to plead its merits and without having been able to re-examine witness P. The State was ordered to pay P. an allowance and reimburse her costs for having presented herself at the hearing venue. 11.  On 15 July 1999 the Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s request for the proceedings to be re-opened. A fresh medical certificate of 11 June 1999 had not convinced the court that he had had a valid excuse for being absent from its main hearing. 12.  On 28 September 1999 the Supreme Court (korkein oikeus, högsta domstolen) refused the applicant leave to appeal. 13.  In civil proceedings brought by an insurance company the District Court, on 1 November 2000, ordered the applicant and others to compensate the company for damage caused in the commission of their crime. On 30 May 2002 the Court of Appeal refused the applicant’s appeal.