5.  The applicant was born in 1971 and lived prior to his arrest in Baku. 6.  On 23 June 2004 the applicant was arrested on suspicion of complicity in an armed robbery and two murders committed on 13 November 2002 by a group of individuals, including his brother. The applicant was held in the detention facility of the Organised Crime Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as from 23 June 2004 and was on 24 June 2004 transferred to the Ganja City Police Office. 7.  According to the applicant, he was from 23 to 26 June 2004 repeatedly subjected to ill-treatment in police custody, with the aim of extracting a confession from him. In particular, he noted that at the Ganja City Police Office he was regularly punched, kicked and beaten with a rubber truncheon two or three hours per day. He was suffocated with a plastic bag placed over his head and his suffocation lasted two or three minutes and sometimes even five minutes. He was placed twice inside a metal cupboard for several hours and was also tied to the pipe of the metal heater. He was electrocuted with telephone cables attached to his toes. The applicant was deprived of water. During this period, he was threatened with rape if he told anything about the ill-treatment to his lawyer. As to the perpetrators of his ill-treatment, the applicant noted that two police officers K.H. and K.G., the investigator J.A. and the head of the investigating department at the Prosecutor General’s Office T.K. participated in his ill‑treatment. He further noted that he had been ill-treated at the request of R.R. who was at the relevant time the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In support of his claim of ill-treatment, the applicant also submitted in his observations lodged with the Court in reply to the Government’s observations two written statements, dated 6 December 2010 and 18 December 2010, from two former police officers confirming the applicant’s ill-treatment in police custody. 8.  On 25 June 2004 the applicant told his lawyer about the ill-treatment and showed her his injuries. On the same day, the applicant’s lawyer asked the investigator in charge of the case for a forensic expert examination of the applicant. 9.  On 25 June 2004 the applicant’s lawyer also sent telegrams to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, asking for an investigation concerning the applicant’s alleged ill-treatment. She informed both authorities that the applicant had been ill-treated by the police at the Ganja City Police Office and that during her meeting with him on 25 June 2004, which had taken place before the applicant was questioned by the investigator, he had shown her injuries to his body and arm. 10.  On 25 June 2004 the investigator in charge of the case issued a decision confirming the applicant’s arrest as a suspect (şübhəli şəxs kimi tutma haddında qərar). Thereafter, the applicant was questioned by the investigator as a suspect in the presence of his lawyer. According to the record of questioning of the same date, the applicant admitted that he had known about his accomplices’ intention to rob the victims on 13 November 2002. In particular, he stated that his role had consisted in conducting surveillance over the victims’ arrival to their house by car and notifying his accomplices by mobile phone. He stated that on 13 November 2002 when the victims’ car arrived, he did not call his accomplices but went home. He learned about the murders some hours later. 11. On 26 June 2004 the applicant was questioned by the investigator as an accused in the presence of his lawyer. The applicant reiterated his previous statements. 12.  It appears from the case file that the applicant’s co-accused, his brother and P.M., who were also questioned at the Ganja City Police Office made similar statements to the police confirming the applicant’s participation in the crime. However, the texts of these statements were not available in the documents submitted to the Court. 13.  On 26 June 2004 the investigator ordered a forensic expert examination of the applicant, which was carried out the same day. The forensic report of 26 June 2004 reads as follows:
“On 26 June 2004 Mushfig Jannatov was subjected to a forensic examination at the Ganja City Police Office. According to him, he was beaten by police officers at the Ganja City Police Office. He did not ask for any medical help. He has no complaints. Objectively: the person examined is a man of medium height, normal build and slightly overweight. There are no injuries to his body.” 14.  It appears from an undated medical record from the pre-trial detention facility submitted by the Government in their observations lodged with the Court that the applicant had no health problems upon his arrival at the pre-trial detention facility. 15.  On 20 August 2004 the applicant complained to the Prosecutor General’s Office, alleging that he had been tortured in police custody. More specifically, he claimed that he had been ill-treated with the aim of extracting a confession from him. He stated that on 25 June 2004 he had shown the injuries to his body to his lawyer. He claimed that he had made self-incriminating statements during his questioning by the investigator, because he was afraid of being tortured once his lawyer had left. In this connection, the applicant asked the Prosecutor General to order his new questioning by the investigator. 16.  On 24 August 2004 another of the applicant’s lawyers asked the investigator in charge of the case for a new forensic examination. He challenged the conclusion of the forensic report of 26 June 2004, maintaining that the applicant had been tortured by the police. In particular, he claimed that the expert had lied in his report about the absence of signs of ill-treatment on the applicant’s body. 17.  On 28 August 2004 the investigator refused to order a new forensic examination, finding the lawyer’s request unsubstantiated. The relevant part of the investigator’s decision reads as follows:
“There is no need to carry out a new forensic examination, as the forensic report dated 26 June 2004 no. 343 on M. Jannatov is objective and complete, and in line with other evidence in the case...” 18.  The applicant did not receive any reply to his complaints lodged with the Prosecutor General’s Office on 25 June 2004 and on 20 August 2004, as well as to his complaints lodged with the Ministry of Internal Affairs on 25 June 2004. No investigation was carried out into his allegation of ill-treatment. 19.  The criminal proceedings before the Assize Court concerned ten accused, including the applicant. The crimes of armed robbery and murder of the two victims on 13 November 2002 constituted only part of the criminal offences to be tried by the court. Among ten accused only the applicant, his brother and P.M. were tried by the court for the commission of the crimes of armed robbery and murder of the two victims on 13 November 2002. 20.  According to the indictment lodged with the Assize Court, the applicant was accused of complicity in armed robbery and murder of the two victims. In particular, at around 10 p.m. on 13 November 2002 the applicant conducted surveillance over the victims’ arrival to their house by car and notified his accomplices by mobile phone. 21.  In the course of the proceedings before the Assize Court, the applicant proclaimed his innocence and denied having been involved in any murder. In particular, he testified that he had not known about the robbery and murder of the two victims, and had not participated in the crime. In this connection, he stated that he had not conducted surveillance over the victims’ arrival to their house by car or had not participated in any other form in the commission of the crime. He further stated that he had only learned about what had happened subsequently, during a conversation with another accused, P.M., but had not informed anyone about it because he had been afraid. As regards his statements made during the investigation on 25 and 26 June 2004, the applicant stated that his statements had been extracted under torture. 22.  The applicant’s co-accused, his brother and P.M., who admitted participating in the murders of 13 November 2002, also testified that the applicant had not been involved in the crime in question, and that their statements made during the investigation had been extracted under ill‑treatment. 23.  The Assize Court heard four police officers (R.H., K.H., K.G. and R.M.) who had participated in the arrest and questioning of the applicant and his co-accused. The police officers denied having subjected the accused to any ill-treatment and testified that their statements during the investigation had not been extracted under ill-treatment. 24.  On 29 March 2005 the Assize Court convicted the applicant of complicity in aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, banditry and illegal possession of weapons and sentenced him to thirteen years’ imprisonment. The applicant’s conviction was based on his own statements, as well as the statements his brother and P.M. had made during the investigation. The court also referred to the statements that R.H., K.H., K.G. and R.M. had made at the trial hearing and “the factual circumstances of the case”. The relevant part of the judgment reads as follows:
“R.H. who was heard as a witness at the court hearing stated that the accused were taken to the police station and a conversation was held with them. At that moment, they were not subjected to torture and they confessed of their own volition. K.H. who was heard as a witness at the court hearing stated that none of the accused was subjected to an act of violence and that A.K. and P.M. had already made self-incriminating statements before he began to involve in this case. K.G. who was heard as a witness at the court hearing stated that he knew the accused within the framework of this case. On the basis of the information received, A.K. was invited to the police office and during the conversation held with him, he spoke in detail about the crime that they had committed in Gulustan settlement. Then P.M.’s place of residence in Baku was determined and two operational groups ... arrested P.M. and A.S. and took them to Ganja. During the conversation held with P.M., he mentioned the names of ... During all these operations, the accused were not subjected to physical force or torture and their submissions in this respect are false. R.M. who was heard as a witness at the court hearing stated that among the accused he knew solely P.M. and after his arrest he went with him to Ramana settlement in Baku where they took weaponry and he did not use force against him...
As to the applicant’s statements that he did not participate in the crime committed by the criminal group, that he was not behind the robbery of V.G.’s house, that he had no knowledge about the organisation of the crime, that he did not possess a weapon, that his statements made at the investigation stage were extracted under physical force, were contradicted by the fact that different members of the criminal group were armed and other members were aware of the use of these weapons in the crimes committed and shared tasks between them, that their composition was stable and there was a close relationship between them, that the committed crimes were attacks accompanied by the use of physical force, that by his own statement and the statements of the accused P.M. and I.J. [the applicant’s brother] made during the investigation and by the submissions of R.H., K.G., K.H. and R.M., heard at trial as witnesses, the court takes a critical stance on his statements and considers them an attempt to escape heavy responsibility.
At the same time, as the [the applicant’s] confession made during the investigation was confirmed by the statements given by P.M. and I.J. during the investigation, and bearing in mind that his confession is confirmed by the factual circumstances of the case and is not rebutted by any arguable argument or evidence, the court attaches more weight to his confession than to his other statements given before the court or during the investigation and accepts his confession as reliable evidence...” 25.  On 20 April 2005 the applicant appealed against this judgment, proclaiming his innocence. He complained that there was no evidence that he had participated in the murders of 13 November 2002, arguing that both his brother and P.M. had testified in court that he had not participated in the commission of this crime. The applicant also maintained that his conviction had been exclusively based on statements extracted under ill-treatment during the investigation, and that the court had unlawfully relied on these statements when convicting him. 26.  On 27 May 2005 the Court of Appeal upheld the Assize Court’s judgment of 29 March 2005, without considering the applicant’s specific complaints concerning his conviction. The relevant part of the judgment reads as follows:
“...The first-instance court correctly interpreted the criminal acts of the accused ... and sentenced them to punishments which are within the limits of the provisions of the relevant law...
The panel of the court, which did not find any grounds for reducing the sentences of the other persons convicted, for the discontinuation of the criminal proceedings against them or for their acquittal, considers that the Assize Court’s judgment in respect of the persons convicted is lawful and reasoned and that the sentence applied is fair. The judgment should therefore remain unchanged and the appeal should not be allowed...” 27.  On 15 November 2006 the applicant lodged a cassation appeal reiterating his previous complaints. In particular, he argued that his guilt had not been established and that the lower courts had relied on unlawfully obtained evidence when convicting him. 28.  On 27 February 2007 the Supreme Court upheld the lower courts’ judgments.