4.  The applicant, Mr Anatoliy Mykolayovych Nadtochiy, is a Ukrainian national who was born in 1977 and resides in the city of Chernigiv, Ukraine. 5.  On 21 February 2000 the applicant brought a car (Audi-100) registered in Lithuania into the customs territory of Ukraine. When crossing the border he undertook an obligation to re-export the car before 21 February 2001. 6.  On 25 September 2000 the applicant was arrested on suspicion of murder. 7.  On 15 December 2000 the applicant was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for murder. 8.  On 5 June 2002, in the applicant’s absence, the Chernigiv Customs Office drew up a report on an infringement of customs regulations due to the applicant’s failure to bring the above car outside the customs territory of Ukraine (section 113 of the Customs Code). In the report, the Customs Office indicated the applicant’s place of detention. 9.  On 17 July 2002 the Customs Office sent the applicant’s case to the Novozavodsky District Court of Chernigiv. In the covering letter they requested the court to consider the issue of the applicant’s liability for a violation of section 112 of the Customs Code (loss of goods placed under customs control). 10.  On 12 August 2002 the court considered the case in the applicant’s absence. The court found the applicant guilty of having failed to re-export the car and of having lost it in violation of section 112 of the Customs Code. The court ordered the confiscation of the vehicle, but given that the car’s location was unknown, it replaced the confiscation with payment of UAH 9,833.57 (about EUR 1,525.15) which corresponded to the value of the car, in accordance with section 149 § 3 of the Customs Code. In its decision, the court also indicated the applicant’s actual place of detention and noted that the applicant had not expressed a wish to be present at the court’s hearing, even though a notification about the time and place of the hearing had been sent to him. However, according to an information letter by the Deputy Head of the State Department for Enforcement of Sentences (Державний департамент України з питань виконання покарань) in reply to the Government Agent’s request, the applicant’s prison file contained no evidence that the applicant had received any summons to or notification about the above proceedings, while they were pending. 11.  The applicant was informed about the above court decision by the prison administration, which received a copy of the decision on 23 August 2002. 12.  On 29 December 2006 the applicant was released on probation.