Court, which consider the allegation unsubstantiated. The State party affirms that the case record does not contain any element that would lead to the conclusion that illegal methods were used during the preliminary investigation; the author did not file any complaint with the Donetsk regional court in this regard. The court records do not contain any complaint by Mr. Aliev concerning the use of illegal methods of investigation or other unlawful acts by the investigators. It was only after the regional court took its decision that the author, in his application for judicial review, maintained that the investigators had forced his wife and him to make false statements. The State party points out that the application for judicial review submitted by the author’s lawyer did not contain such allegations. psychiatrist, nor had the wounds that he had sustained during the events of 8 June 1996 been examined. State party’s admissibility and merits submission and author’s comments 4.1 In its notes verbales dated 26 May 1998 and 20 September 2002, the State party submitted its observations, claiming that the case did not entail any violation of the rights recognized under the Covenant, since the author had had a fair trial and had been sentenced in accordance with the law. 4.2 A criminal case for the murder of Mr. Kroutovertsev and Mr. Kot and the attack on Mrs. Kroutovertseva was opened on 9 June 1996 by the prosecution of the town of Makeevka. On 13 June 1996, a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Aliev and his wife was issued and those two persons were arrested on 28 August 1996. On 11 April 1997, the Donetsk regional court sentenced the author to death for intentional homicide with aggravating circumstances and for aggravated theft of personal effects. On 17 July 1997, the decision was confirmed by the Supreme Court. Pursuant to legislative amendments, on 26 June 2000 the Donetsk regional court commuted Mr. Aliev’s death sentence to life imprisonment. 4.7 In conclusion, the State party notes that there is no reason to challenge the judicial decisions against the author and that the author did not file any complaint with the Procurator-General concerning the alleged unlawfulness of his sentence. 5.1 The author submitted his comments on the State party’s observations on 21 April 2003. He reiterates his previous allegations and disputes the characterization of his acts by the prosecution and the courts. He maintains that, on the night of 7 to 8 June 1996, he wounded, but did not kill, Mr. Kot and Mr. Kroutovertsev. He challenges the witnesses’ statements, which he claims were “attached to the case record by police officers” and used by the court. 4.3 According to the State party, the court found the author guilty of having deliberately and vengefully murdered the victims with a knife during an altercation. The author later attempted to murder Mr. Kroutovertsev’s wife out of greed, attacking and seriously wounding her, before stealing her jewellery. He returned to the scene of the crime the same day in order to remove a gold chain from Mr. Kroutovertsev’s corpse. 5.2 The author reiterates that the investigation and the courts were biased against him because, at the time of the crime, the brother of one of the victims was the chief of the Makeevka district police station, while the sister of the other victim was the chief of the central police station’s identity card department and she was, moreover, married to a judge. The author claims that, in order to aggravate his sentence, the police officers described a different sequence of events. 4.4 The evidence concerning the crime was corroborated by the conclusions of the preliminary investigation and the forensic examination, and was confirmed by severalwitnesses, as well as by the inspection of the scene of the crime, physical evidence and the conclusions of experts. 5.3 With regard to the allegations of ill-treatment of which he claims to be a victim, the author explains that part of his criminal file was covered with his blood. He reiterates that the investigators had put a gas mask over his head and had blocked the flow of air in order to force him to testify against himself. His wife was also beaten and strangled. He maintains that he complained, without success, “to several authorities” of having been subjected to physical violence. A number of his co-detainees could attest that he had bruises and haematomas as a result of ill-treatment. 4.5 The State party maintains that the courts correctly characterized the author’s acts as constituting offences under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code. It considers that the author’s allegations that he had wounded Mr. Kroutovertsev and Mr. Kot in self-defence were refuted by the procedural documents and the courts. In the light of the particular dangerousness of the crimes, the court was of the view that the author constituted an exceptional danger to society and imposed an exceptional sentence on him. 5.4 As proof of the investigators’ bias, the author cites the fact that a criminal investigation into the murder of Mr. Kot and Mr. Kroutovertsev was opened on 9 June 1996, whereas Mr. Kot died of his wounds on 13 June 1996. 4.6 According to the State party, the author’s allegation that he was subjected to unauthorized investigation methods was examined by the Supreme 69