6.  The applicant was born in 1973 and lives in Vyatskiye Polyany, Kirov Region. 7.  On 7 February 2000 the applicant was remanded in custody on suspicion of having committed gang rape. He remained in custody throughout the investigation. 8.  On 3 May 2000 the Vyatsko-Polyanskiy District Court of the Kirov Region found the applicant guilty of aggravated rape and violent sexual assault and sentenced him to two years and two months’ imprisonment. In deciding on the sentence the court applied Article 64 of the Criminal Code, which allowed the imposition of a penalty below the statutory minimum (which was four years’ imprisonment) with regard to the voluntary compensation paid to the victim, her request to terminate the applicant’s prosecution, the absence of a previous criminal record and the fact that the applicant had a child. 9.  On 10 May 2000 the Vyatsko-Polyanskaya District Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal against the judgment on the ground that the sentence, resulting from an unjustified application of Article 64 of the Criminal Code, was too lenient. On an unknown date the applicant also filed an appeal, pleading not guilty and requesting the reduction of his sentence and release on parole. 10.  On 26 May 2000 the Amnesty Act entered into force. 11.  On 8 August 2000 the Kirov Regional Court dismissed the appeals of both parties and upheld the judgment of the District Court at final instance. It held, in particular, that the applicant’s participation in the rape had been “secondary” and that this in combination with other circumstances referred to by the first-instance court had justified application of a penalty below the statutory minimum. The court also stated that no grounds for applying the Amnesty Act had been made out. 12.  On 18 August 2000 the Vyatsko-Polyanskiy District Court of the Kirov Region, in a separate decision, found that this was the applicant’s first conviction and that his prison sentence did not exceed three years. It absolved the applicant from serving the sentence by virtue of the Amnesty Act. 13.  On 31 October 2000 the Kirov Regional Prosecutor lodged an application for supervisory review, seeking to have the judgment of 3 May 2000 and the appeal decision of 8 August 2000 quashed on the ground that the sentence imposed was too lenient and specifically challenging the application of Article 64 of the Criminal Code. 14.  On 15 November 2000 the Presidium of the Kirov Regional Court granted the application and remitted the case for a new examination at first instance. The Presidium also quashed the decision of 18 August 2000. 15.  On 27 December 2001 the Vyatsko-Polyanskiy District Court of the Kirov Region found the applicant guilty on the same counts and sentenced him to four years and six months’ imprisonment. It found that there had been no “exceptional circumstances” justifying the application of Article 64 of the Criminal Code. Pursuant to this judgment, the applicant was taken into custody following the court hearing. 16.  The applicant lodged an appeal against this judgment claiming, inter alia, that he had been tried and punished twice for the same offence. 17.  On 3 April 2001 the Kirov Regional Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal and upheld the judgment of the District Court in the final instance. 18.  On 28 November 2002 the Kirovo-Chepetskiy District Court of the Kirov Region released the applicant on parole.