CCPR/C/112/D/1773/2008 intervention before the pronouncement of the judgment. When the judgment was to be read out, in violation of article 365 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, he refused to stand up, and started talking loudly, disturbing the court. For that reason, Mr. Kozulin was removed from the room for the second time and the judgment was pronounced in his absence. Given that those present in the room were also speaking loudly, they were also removed from the room by the court. The judgement was thus read out in the presence of Mr. Kozulin���s defence lawyers, the prosecutor and a foreign diplomat. Article 307, parts 1 and 2, of the Code of Criminal Procedure permit the removal from the room of accused and the pronouncement of a judgment in his/her absence. However, the accused has to be provided with a copy of the judgment, against signature, immediately after its pronouncement; it was done in this case. 4.25 The alleged violations of the law when the case was examined on cassation are, according to the State party, also groundless. The law in force did not provide for a compulsory presence of the accused when his/her cassation appeal is examined. No official audio recording was made at the trial court stages as the court did not consider the issue and, therefore, no such record could be provided to the cassation court. A trial transcript detailing the conduct of the trial was prepared, and the annotations on it made during the prescribed deadlines were considered by the court. 4.26 The allegation that Mr. Kozulin suffered inhumane treatment in court is groundless. He was transferred to serve his sentence within the established deadlines. The legislation in place does not provide for courts to authorize visits by foreign diplomats to the accused. 4.27 Individuals must be transferred to a penitentiary institution within 10 days of conviction; that was respected in the present case. The fact that Mr. Kozulin could not see his relatives beforehand does not violate the law. 4.28 In the correctional colony No. 3 (Vitebsk region), Mr. Kozulin was allowed to meet with his lawyer on 24 occasions. During his hunger strike, he was not allowed to meet with his lawyer, as the penitentiary administration took into consideration his state of health. 4.29 Mr. Kozulin met with the Head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Office in Belarus on 31 October 2006, 20 December 2006 and 20 April 2007. He met with a foreign ambassador on 20 April 2007 and with a foreign medical doctor, at the doctor’s request, on 30 January 2008. 4.30 The State party notes that the hunger strike took place from 20 October to 11 December 2006. On 31 October, Mr. Kozulin confirmed in writing that he did not wish to be kept in the medical unit of the penitentiary colony. His state of health was monitored on a daily basis by the medical unit’s doctors and he had laboratory tests periodically. The consequences that his hunger strike may have for him were repeatedly explained to him, but he refused any kind of medical help or hospitalization, affirming that he would decide whether to stop. On 27 November 2006, he was examined by a group of medical specialists composed of the Head of the Penitentiary Medical Service, the chief of the correctional colony’s No. 3 medical unit, and two medical doctors from correctional colony No. 1. On 29 December 2006, he was brought for examinations and tests to the Vitebsk Regional Hospital. The examination revealed no condition affecting his kidneys although the effects of hunger were visible. 4.31 Mr. Kozulin refused in writing, on four occasions, to undergo a comprehensive medical examination in the penitentiary hospital of Minsk correctional colony No.1. Following the end of his hunger strike, he was examined comprehensively on a regular basis. In the light of the stabilization of his body weight and the blood test results, the medical doctors decided, on 31 March 2008, to stop providing him with a special diet. His state of health is considered to be satisfactory. He has received seven parcels since his imprisonment. 10