pursuant to articles 3 and 28 of the Constitution of Ukraine, capital punishment had been legally abolished, which rendered the sentence unconstitutional and inapplicable, contrary to the provisions of article 6 of the Covenant. mother-in-law’s village, while his father tried to raise the sum of money that had been demanded. When they returned, they were arrested by the police on 27 August 1996 and taken to a police station, where they were interrogated for four days. According to the author, they were not given anything to eat during their detention. Mr. Volkov and other officers subjected the author to physical pressure, which included depriving him of oxygen by forcing him to wear a gas mask, in order to force him to confess to a number of unsolved crimes. The author’s wife, who was pregnant at the time, was also beaten and a cellophane bag was placed over her head, which caused her to lose consciousness. In order to obtain his wife’s release, the author signed all the documents that were placed before him, without reading them. 3.2 The author’s allegations that he and his wife had been victims of torture and ill-treatment by the police for the purpose of extorting confessions during their detention, may violate article 14, paragraph 3 (g), article 7 and article 10, in combination with article 6 of the Covenant. 3.3 The author maintains that he was deprived of a fair trial for the following reasons. After his arrest, he was interrogated for four days by police officers at the police station where the chief was the brother of one of the deceased. He maintains that the charges against him were inconsistent, the presentation of the facts by the police and the public prosecutor was biased, and the court called only witnesses for the prosecution and the victims. The author states that, in examining his case record, he had discovered that the pages were not bound, numbered or attached, which made it possible to remove evidence in order to conceal illegal acts and procedural errors, and that his appeal to the Supreme Court had not been transmitted by the regional court. All this may constitute a violation of article 14, paragraph 1, paragraph 3 (e) and paragraph 5 of the Covenant. 2.5 The police officers released his wife after having obtained her promise not to divulge what had taken place during the detention, failing which her husband would be killed and she would be reincarcerated. After her miscarriage, the author’s wife decided to collect medical evidence in order to lodge a complaint, whereupon she was again threatened by Mr. Volkov and another officer. The author states that he complained to a procurator on 31 January 1997, but that the procurator had advised him to make his allegations during the trial. 2.6 The author was held for five months without access to a lawyer; he states that he was not examined either by a forensic psychiatrist, in spite of his medical history, or by a physician. During the reconstruction of the crime, the author was unable to participate, except when Mr. Kroutovertsev and Mr. Kot were also concerned. 3.4 The author claims that he did not have access to counsel during the five months following his arrest, from 27 August 1996 to 18 December 1996; on 17 July 1997, the Supreme Court took its decision in his absence and the absence of his counsel, in violation of article 14, paragraph 3 (d), of the Covenant. 2.7 The case was tried by the Donetsk regional court. According to the author, the court heard only witnesses produced by Mrs. Kroutovertseva, who were all her neighbours and friends. 3.5 According to the author, the Supreme Court confirmed an illegal decision, since the death sentence was incompatible with the Ukrainian Constitution of 1996. On 29 December 1999, the Constitutional Court had declared capital punishment unconstitutional; since that date, the penalty contained in article 93 of the Criminal Code was between 8 and 15 years’ imprisonment. Rather than seeing his sentence modified and reduced “by a prompt review” of his conviction, the author was sentenced to life imprisonment, pursuant to the amendments to the Criminal Code of 22 February 2000. In his opinion, this constitutes a violation of his right to a lighter sentence because the penalty provided for under the “provisional law”, following the decision of the Constitutional Court (of December 1999), was between 8 and 15 years’ imprisonment while, following the reforms introduced in 2000, the author was imprisoned for life. 2.8 The author states that, although the public prosecutor had demanded that the author be sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment, on 11 April 1997 the court found him guilty of the murder of Mr. Kroutovertsev and Mr. Kot and of the attempted murder of Mrs. Kroutovertseva, and sentenced him to death. On 28 April 1997, the author filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. He claims that his appeal was not transmitted by the Donetsk regional court and was illegally annulled. In this regard, the author notes that the public prosecutor had requested the annulment of the judgement and the transfer of the case for non-compliance with certain provisions of article 334 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The complaint 3.6 The author also claims that, in spite of his medical history, he was not examined by an expert 3.1 The author claims that he was sentenced to death without account being taken of the fact that, 68