8.  The applicant, Mr Evgen Nevmerzhitsky, is a Ukrainian national, who was born in Kyiv in 1970 and currently resides there. He was formerly the manager of a branch of the Poltava Bank in Kyiv. The applicant was represented by Mr Portyanik, a lawyer practising in Kyiv. 9.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 10.  On 28 September 1995 police officers seized 184,761 US dollars (USD) that had been stored by the applicant on the premises of the Poltava Bank in readiness for their sale to a customer, Y.G.L. 11.  On 18 October 1995 the Investigative Division of the main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kyiv (“the Investigative Division”) began a criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful currency transactions that had allegedly been committed by the applicant. 12.  On 8 April 1997 the Investigative Department initiated criminal proceedings in respect of the involvement of the applicant and other suspects in the case. On the same date an investigator from the division decided that the applicant should be detained as a suspect pending a decision concerning the appropriate preventive measure. He was accordingly placed in custody that day. 13.  On 14 April 1997 an investigator from the Investigative Division charged the applicant with, inter alia, engaging in unlawful currency transactions (Article 80 § 2 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code 1960 – hereafter the “UCC”), theft of substantial amounts of currency (Article 86-1 of the UCC) and tax evasion (Article 148-5 § 2 of the UCC). 14.  On 8 December 1997 and 2 March 1998 the applicant was additionally charged with abuse of power by an official (Articles 165 § 2 and 166 § 3 of the UCC) and fraud and forgery committed by an official (Articles 172 § 2 and 194 §§ 1 and 3 of the UCC). 15.  Between 15 January and 14 April 1998 the applicant lodged applications with the Investigative Department for a medical examination and challenged the appointment of the investigator. On 7 April 1998 the General Prosecution Service of Ukraine instructed the investigator to arrange for the applicant's medical examination. The doctors who examined the applicant recommended that he should receive medical treatment in a facility run by the Ministry of Health due to various diseases that he suffered from, including the skin infections of scabies and eczema. 16.  On 13 March 1998 the investigator charged the applicant with offences under Articles 80 § 2, 86-1, 148-5 § 2, 166 § 3, 170 § 1, 172 § 2 and 194 § 3 of the UCC. 17.  On 8 September 1998 the investigation into the case was completed and the accused, including the applicant, were allowed to inspect the case-file. On 9 August 1999 the accused finished their inspection. 18.  On 9 August 1999 the criminal case-file was sent to the Kyiv Prosecution Service for approval of the indictment. 19.  On 13 August 1999 the prosecution service transmitted the case to the Kyiv City Court (the “City Court”). 20.  On 27 August 1999 the Moskovsky District Court of Kyiv rejected as unsubstantiated the applicant's complaint against the investigator of the Investigative Department, in which he had claimed that the investigator had acted unlawfully and requested that criminal proceedings be instituted against him for abuse of power. 21.  On 1 November 1999 the City Court remitted the case to the prosecution service for an additional investigation (додаткове розслідування). On 5 November 1999 it lodged a separate application (окреме подання) for an order setting aside the City Court's ruling. On 16 December 1999 the Supreme Court of Ukraine granted the application in part. Although it held that the case should be remitted for an additional investigation, it specified that certain matters did not have to be investigated further since the information previously obtained was sufficient. 22.  On 5 January 2000 the prosecution service finished a supplementary investigation into the case and the applicant was allowed to inspect the file. 23.  On 7 February 2000 the additional investigation was completed and the applicant was allowed to familiarise himself with the material in the case-file. 24.  On 22 February 2000 the preliminary investigation was reopened in order to conduct additional investigative acts. 25.  On 30 October 2000 the City Court ruled that the investigation into the charges of unlawful currency transactions should be dropped as criminal liability for unlawful currency transactions had been abolished and Article 80 of the UCC repealed. 26.  On 19 February 2001 the City Court convicted the applicant of repeated financial fraud, acts in preparation of financial fraud, forgery committed by an official, aggravated forgery and abuse of power. It sentenced him to five years and six months' imprisonment, and ordered the confiscation of all his personal property. It acquitted him of the offences of aiding and abetting the concealment of the proceeds of currency sales, tax evasion and aggravated fictitious trading. On the basis of the Amnesty Law of 11 May 2000, and because the applicant had already been detained for two years, ten months and fifteen days, the City Court decided to exempt him from serving the sentence. None of the parties appealed to the Supreme Court. 27.  On 8 April 1997 an investigator of the Investigative Division decided that the applicant should be temporarily detained as a suspect (затриманий в якості підозрюваного) in accordance with Article 115 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (“the CCP”). He was accordingly placed in custody that day. 28.  On 11 April 1997 the Prosecutor of Kyiv sanctioned a warrant issued by the investigator authorising the applicant's arrest (санкцію на арешт) as a preventive measure pending trial (Article 155 of the CCP). 29.  On 12 May 1997 the applicant applied to the Moskovsky District Court of Kyiv for orders to quash the warrant and release him. On 28 May 1997 the District Court rejected the applicant's claims as unsubstantiated. It also held that the applicant's detention was lawful. 30.  From 8 April 1997 until 22 February 2000 the applicant was detained in the Temporary Investigative Isolation Unit of the Kyiv Region (SIZO No. 1 of the Kyiv Region). 31.  The duration of the investigation and the applicant's detention were extended on successive occasions: to six months on 29 May 1997 by the Prosecutor of Kyiv, to nine months on 1 October 1997 by the Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine, to twelve months on 18 December 1997 by the Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine and to fifteen months on 28 March 1998 by the Acting Prosecutor General of Ukraine. 32.  On 12 April 1998 the investigator informed the applicant that the preventive measure of detention could be replaced by release on bail. The Prosecutor of Kyiv informed the applicant by a letter of 20 July 1998 that bail had been fixed in the sum of 232,716 Ukrainian hryvnas (UAH). 33.  On 22 July 1998 that amount was deposited in the account of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kyiv by Ukrinbank (the surety and the applicant's former employer). On 19 August 1998 the Department returned the sum and refused to release the applicant on bail. 34.  On 30 June 1998 the Acting Prosecutor General of Ukraine extended the period of the investigation and the applicant's detention for another three months (until 30 September 1998), bringing the total period to eighteen months. 35.  On 1 November 1999 the City Court refused to change the preventive measure, requiring the applicant to remain in custody. On 16 December 1999 the Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld that decision. 36.  The applicant was detained during the prosecution's further investigation from 1 November 1999 onwards. 37.  On 22 February 2000, owing to the expiry of the maximum statutory period of detention, the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor decided to release the applicant on his undertaking not to abscond. The applicant was released on 23 February 2000. 38.  The applicant went on hunger strike on 13 April 1998, consuming only water. On 17 April 1998 the applicant's medical condition was examined and, following an acetone analysis of his urine on 20 April 1998, he was subjected to force-feeding as of 23 April 1998. The applicant suspended his hunger strike on 14 July 1998, only to resume it again in October 1998. 39.  On 1 December 1999 the doctor of the detention facility issued a statement that the applicant was receiving medical treatment and, because of his continuing hunger strike, was being force-fed. 40.  The Government mentioned that between 27 May 1997 and 7 February 2000 the applicant was examined by doctors on sixty-one occasions. However, they made no reference to any medical examinations of the applicant in the period from 5 August 1998 to 10 January 2000 (see paragraph 50 below). 41.  On 5 February 1998 the doctor of the detention centre diagnosed the applicant as having allergic dermatitis (алергійний дерматит). 42.  On 8 April 1998 the doctor of the detention centre, after examining the applicant, diagnosed him as also suffering from streptococcal impetigo (стрептодермія) and chronic cholecystitis (хронічний холецистит). 43.  On 8 May 1998 the forensic medical examination No. 58 carried out by the Kyiv City Medical Examinations Bureau concluded that the applicant suffered from microbic eczema, chronic cholecystitis and neurocirculatory dystonia. It recommended that the applicant undergo specialised medical treatment for eczema as an inpatient. 44.  On 2 June 1998 the doctor of the Central Hospital of Kyiv, Dr Glukhenky, found that the applicant had contracted disseminated microbic eczema (розповсюджена мікробна екзема). He also recommended that the applicant undergo medical treatment as an inpatient. 45.  On 13 July 1998 the Deputy Head of the Investigative Department requested that the applicant be admitted to the Kyiv Specialist Dermato-Venerological Hospital for further treatment of his skin diseases as from 14 July 1998. 46.  On 14 July 1998 the applicant was taken to the hospital and, after his preliminary medical examination there, he was diagnosed as suffering from scabies (чесотка) and pyodermatitis (піодерматит). The hospital recommended that the applicant be returned to SIZO No. 1 for further medical treatment for scabies. 47.  On 20 July 1998 the forensic medical examination No. 88 carried out by the Kyiv City Medical Examinations Bureau concluded that the applicant had suffered from disseminated microbic eczema from 8 May to 2 June 1998. It also found that the applicant suffered from scabies and that this disease could be treated in SIZO No. 1 if there were no appropriate conditions for his treatment as an inpatient. On the same date the investigator of the Investigative Division rejected as unsubstantiated the applicant's request for medical treatment as an inpatient. 48.  The applicant underwent medical treatment for scabies on 31 July 1998 in the medical unit of the detention centre. 49.  The applicant continued his hunger strike between 10 January and 7 February 2000. During this period he was examined by a doctor on eighteen occasions. 50.  According to the applicant, his last hunger strike lasted from 5 October 1998 to 23 February 2000. In accordance with the timetable of medical examinations provided by the Government, no medical examinations of the applicant were performed between 5 August 1998 and 10 January 2000 (see paragraph 40 above). 51.  Following his release on 23 February 2000, the applicant was admitted to Kyiv City Hospital from 24 February until 17 March 2000. He subsequently continued to receive medical treatment under the general supervision of a psychiatrist. 52.  On 2 February 2000 the applicant's sister, on behalf of the applicant, lodged complaints with the Constitutional Court of Ukraine seeking to establish that it was unconstitutional to hold the applicant in custody after the maximum statutory term of detention had expired. She also petitioned the Constitutional Court for a ruling that Article 156 of the CCP, which allowed suspects to be detained while the case was being investigated, was unconstitutional. On 25 February 2000 the Registrar of the Constitutional Court rejected his complaints, as the court had no jurisdiction to consider them.