4.  The applicant was born in 1962 and lives in Athens. 5.  On 15 October 2002 criminal proceedings were brought against him for fraud and forgery related offences. 6.  The hearing, which was originally set for 18 November 2004, was subsequently adjourned to 9 June 2005 due to absence of witnesses. 7.  A hearing took place on the aforementioned date and by judgment no. 41563/2005 the Athens First Instance Criminal Court convicted the applicant and sentenced him to twenty seven months of imprisonment. 8.  On the same date the applicant lodged an appeal with the Athens Criminal Court of Appeal challenging the court’s findings and its evaluation of the evidence. 9.  The hearing, which was originally set for 16 January 2006, was subsequently adjourned to 23 February 2007, on the applicant’s request. 10.  By judgment dated 28 February 2007 the Court of Appeal reduced the applicant’s sentence to six months of imprisonment (judgment no. 1943/2007). 11.  On 5 October 2007 the applicant lodged an appeal on points of law with the Court of Cassation. 12.  The hearing, which was originally set for 8 April 2008, was adjourned twice - to 21 October 2008 and subsequently to 28 April 2009 -due to lawyers’ strike. 13.  By judgment dated 27 May 2009 the Court of Cassation rejected the applicant’s allegations as unfounded, after having observed that the Court of Appeal’s decision was sufficiently reasoned (judgment no. 1281/2009). This judgment was finalised on 28 July 2009.