5.  The applicant was born in 1954 and lives in Istanbul. 6.  On 30 November 1997 the applicant, who at the time was working as a cook in a restaurant, had been drinking alcohol after his shift. After leaving the restaurant, on his way home, he got into an argument with a group of people waiting at a bus stop in the Sarıyer district. He was immediately arrested by a patrolling police officer (H.Ö.), who allegedly kicked and punched the applicant during the arrest. He was taken into custody at the Sarıyer Police Station, where he was allegedly subjected to ill-treatment for a day. 7.  On the same day, a deputy superintendent and H.Ö drew up a police report. It stated that the applicant had insulted H.Ö, and had pushed and head-butted him in the face, when he had intervened in the incident. It also noted that the applicant had continued to behave aggressively towards police officers at the station and had insulted them. 8.  Furthermore, the police took statements from three persons who had been at the scene of the incident. They all confirmed that the applicant had got into an argument with the minibus driver at the bus stop. H.Ö had been trying to calm everyone down, when the applicant started swearing at him. H.Ö then tried to handcuff the applicant but he pushed the officer away and head-butted him in the face. The doctor who examined H.Ö on that day recommended that H.Ö be seen by a specialist at Sişli State Hospital. The same witnesses also signed the police report, stating that the applicant had continued to act aggressively at the police station. Specifically, he had thrown himself onto the floor, tried to harm himself and attack the police officers on duty. On account of his continuing truculence, the police officers handcuffed him with the help of witnesses who were at the police station. 9.  On 1 December 1997 the applicant was examined by a doctor who noted no injuries on his body. Later that day, he was brought before the public prosecutor and then the investigating judge, who ordered the applicant's detention on remand. He was remanded in custody in Sağmalcılar prison. On the same day, H.Ö was the subject of a medical report which described the bleeding and swelling of his nose, justifying four days' sick leave. H.Ö filed a complaint against the applicant on account of the insults and physical assault. 10.  On 3 December 1997, the Sarıyer public prosecutor filed an indictment with the Sarıyer Criminal Court, accusing the applicant of obstructing and insulting a police officer on duty and aggressive drunkenness. 11.  On 9 December 1997 the applicant was examined by the doctor of the Sağmalcılar prison, who noted the following marks on his body: oedema on the left ankle, scab-covered wounds surrounding both wrists and a scab-covered lesion in the left scapular region. He also complained of pain in his shoulders. The applicant was referred to Sağmalcılar State Hospital. 12.  On 10 December 1997 a doctor at Sağmalcılar State Hospital noted an oedema on the applicant's left ankle. 13.  On 14 December 1997 the applicant was examined again by a doctor, who referred him to the orthopaedic clinic of the same hospital because of the oedema and scab-covered lesions on his left ankle, caused by a blunt instrument. 14.  On 15 December 1997 the applicant was examined by a doctor at the emergency clinic of the hospital, who noted a large swelling on the left ankle caused by the infection of the soft tissue. 15.  On 16 December 1997 he was examined by an expert at the Forensic Medicine Institute, who noted a graze of 0,5 x 4 cm on the left wrist, and a prominent oedema of 15 cm on the left ankle. However, the expert considered that a final report could only be drawn up once the applicant had been treated at a hospital. 16.  On 25 December 1997 the applicant was released from prison. 17.  On 28 December 1997 he provided a statement to the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Foundation in Turkey regarding the ill-treatment to which he had been subjected whilst in custody. 18.  On 6 January 1998 he was admitted to Okmeydanı Hospital. On 12 January 1998 he had an operation on his left foot. On 2 February 1998 he was discharged from the hospital. The applicant received treatment as an outpatient until 30 April 1998. 19.  On 9 February 1998 the applicant filed a complaint with the Sarıyer public prosecutor claiming that he had been subjected to torture while he was in custody at the Sarıyer Police Station. He relied on the medical report of 16 December 1997 issued by the Forensic Medicine Institute, stating that he had sustained injuries. 20.  On 10 February 1998 the Sarıyer public prosecutor took a statement from the applicant in relation to his complaint. The applicant stated that he was a member of HADEP (the People's Democracy Party) and that some people residing in the Sarıyer district were antagonistic towards him because of his Kurdish origin. He presumed that it was for this reason that he had been attacked by four or five people whilst waiting at the bus stop. Then the police arrived and arrested him. During the night, the police officers had taken him to a room and blindfolded him. They had beaten and punched him and kicked him on his legs and ankles. The next day, he had been detained on remand. His pain had worsened in prison. He was examined by the prison doctor and sent to hospital for further reports and treatment. 21.  On 5 March 1998 the Sarıyer Criminal Court convicted the applicant of obstructing an officer on duty and aggressive drunkenness, and sentenced him to a fine, the enforcement of which was suspended. 22.  On 6 March 1998 the Sarıyer public prosecutor took statements from three persons, two of whom had been held in police custody at the same time as the applicant, and one of whom had been at the police station for administrative reasons. The applicant's two co-detainees stated that there had been some ten to fifteen people, including the applicant, in police custody. The applicant had been drunk. However, they could not testify as to whether the police officers had beaten him. The third witness stated that he did not notice that the police officers had beaten anyone while he was at the police station. 23.  In an indictment lodged on 20 May 1998, based on the medical report of 16 December 1997, the public prosecutor at the Sarıyer Criminal Court initiated criminal proceedings against the police officers who had been on duty at the Sarıyer Police Station on 30 November 1997. 24.  On 24 June 1998 doctors from the Istanbul Human Rights Foundation issued a report confirming the applicant's account of what had happened to him while in police custody. They noted that the applicant's custody story and his medical record were consistent with the alleged beating by truncheons and stamping on his feet. The report also opined that, because of the delay in medical treatment, the applicant's condition had deteriorated. 25.  On 18 June 1999 the Sarıyer Criminal Court heard the statement of a witness who had shared the same cell as the applicant, together with some twenty other people in police custody. The witness stated that he was already in the cell when the applicant was placed there. After half an hour, the applicant had been taken away by two police officers and returned about an hour and a half later. The applicant had then told him that he had been beaten by the police officers, that his foot was hurting badly, and that he was in great pain. He had asked to be taken to hospital. Lastly, the witness said that the applicant had again been taken out of the cell by the same police officers and brought back within the hour. 26.  On 4 October 2000 the Sarıyer Criminal Court requested an expert report on the applicant's medical condition while he was in custody and on his release. 27.  On 30 October 2000 the Forensic Medicine Institute submitted a report to the court. After giving the applicant's whole medical history, referring to the above-mentioned facts, the report briefly stated that on 1 December 1997 he had been examined by a doctor who had noted no marks of physical violence on his body, but that his examinations on 9 and 16 December 1997 had revealed, in particular, an oedema on the left ankle and scab-covered wounds on the right ankle. The report concluded, without determining an exact date, that these lesions must have occurred between 1 and 9 December 1997. They had been inflicted by a blunt instrument and the applicant's medical condition at the relevant time would have rendered him unfit for work for 15 days. 28.  On 21 December 2000 a law on conditional release (Law no. 4616 on the suspension of proceedings or execution of sentences in respect of crimes committed before 23 April 1999) was enacted. Accordingly, on 16 March 2001 the Sarıyer Criminal Court decided that the proceedings against the suspected perpetrators of the injuries to the applicant be suspended and subsequently discontinued if no offence of the same or a more serious kind were committed by the offenders within a five-year period. 29.  On 10 February 2002 the Court of Cassation dismissed the applicant's appeal against this judgment, of which the applicant was notified on 25 November 2002.