5.  The applicant was born in 1968 and lives in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. 6.  On 5 February 1997 the Uglegorsk Town Prosecutor's Office opened criminal proceedings against the applicant on charge of manslaughter. On the same day the applicant was detained and placed in custody. His detention pending investigation and trial was authorised on 8 February 1997. 7.  On 6 July 1997 the investigation was completed and the case was transferred to the Uglegorsk Town Court. The applicant was charged with manslaughter, infliction of bodily harm and dangerous and disorderly conduct. The judges' dockets were full and the trial was scheduled for 9 February 1998. The hearing was subsequently adjourned until 16 April 1998 due to the judge's conflict of schedule. 8.  On 20 April 1998 the Town Court found that the investigation conducted by the prosecutor's office was incomplete and sent the file back. On 10 June 1998 the Sakhalin Regional Court dismissed the prosecutor's appeal against the Town Court's decision. The applicant was to remain in custody pending investigation. 9.  On 8 July 1998 the case file was forwarded to the Uglegorsk Town Prosecutor's office for additional investigation. 10.  On 10 August 1998 the prosecutor's office closed the investigation and forwarded the case file to the court. Upon receipt and review of the file, the Town Court found that the investigation had not been duly completed and transferred the file back to the prosecutor's office. The prosecutor unsuccessfully appealed. The final decision on the matter was taken by the Regional Court on 18 November 1998. 11.  The Town Court resumed the trial on 1 February 1999. On 13 April 1999 the Uglegorsk Town Court of the Sakhalin Region found the applicant guilty of manslaughter and infliction of bodily harm and acquitted him of the charge of dangerous and disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. 12.  On 28 July 1999 the Sakhalin Regional Court affirmed the applicant's acquittal of dangerous and disorderly conduct, quashed the remainder of the judgment of 13 April 1999 and remanded the matter for fresh consideration. The applicant remained in custody. 13.  On 17 August 1999 the applicant was taken to hospital where he underwent treatment for tuberculosis. The trial was suspended until the applicant's release from hospital in December 1999. 14.  On 28 December 1999 the applicant was released on bail. 15.  The applicant's case was assigned to judge Sh. On 5 December 2001 she was transferred to another court and the case was allocated to judge Ya. who could not proceed with the trial since his judge status was terminated. On 31 March 2003 the applicant's case was taken over by judge R. 16.  The new trial began on 14 April 2004. According to the Government, the applicant refused to have the proceedings discontinued due to the expiration of the prescribed period for prosecuting him. By a judgment of 7 May 2004, the Town Court reclassified the charges brought against the applicant and found him guilty of two counts of infliction of bodily harm and sentenced him to three years' imprisonment. The court found however that the applicant was no longer liable to serve the sentence and exempted him from doing so. 17.  On 21 July 2004 the Sakhalin Regional Court quashed the conviction, acquitted the applicant of one charge of infliction of bodily harm and discontinued the criminal proceedings against him in respect of the second charge because the prescribed period for prosecuting him had expired.