- 106 three bleeding injuries on his right lower leg. The complainant was examined by a medical officer of the police and photos of the injuries were taken. On 1 August 1996, the complainant was transferred by his private doctor to hospital for further examinations that were undertaken on 2 August 1996. The complainant was released immediately. The report of the hospital, submitted by the complainant, documented injuries of the right lower leg and a slightly swollen nose. 2.2 On 9 August 1996, the Vienna Federal Police Directorate sent a report on the facts of the case and the allegations of the complainant that he had been ill-treated to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. On 20 August 1996, the Public Prosecutor instituted court proceedings against the three police officers charging them with mistreatment of a prisoner and attempted coercion. 2.3 The first court hearing took place on 7 October 1996. On 6 November 1996, the complainant’s trial attorney proposed to the court and to the prosecutor that an examining judge be assigned, in accordance with a decree by the Federal Ministry of Justice, to complete the preliminary investigation carried out by the Federal Police Directorate. This proposal was rejected by the court and the prosecutor. On 25 November 1996, the three police officers were acquitted. On 10 March 1997, the prosecutor withdrew his appeal. It is submitted that, therefore, the decision of the court is final. The complaint 3.1 The complainant claims that on 30 July 1996 he was subjected to ill-treatment by three police officers while being questioned at the Leopoldstadt District Police station of the Vienna Federal Police Directorate. Allegedly, one police officer made him fall to the ground and then kicked him. The complainant alleges further that this police officer intentionally kicked him and stepped on his rights shin, which was already injured.a As a result the wound started to bleed. When the complainant stood up his face was slapped by another police officer. He was then told to make a confession. The complainant states that a fourth police officer was present in the room, but that he did not participate in the ill-treatment. 3.2 The complainant claims that at the first court hearing on 7 October 1996 before the Vienna Regional Criminal Court, serious deficiencies in the preliminary inquiry appeared. In particular, the investigations did not attempt to identify the fourth person in the interrogation room, despite the fact that the testimony of that person would have been essential to determining the facts. 3.3 The complainant contends that the preliminary inquiries lacked the necessary impartiality, because they were carried out by the police and, therefore, constituted a breach of article 13 of the Convention. Impartial investigations would have identified the “fourth person”. 3.4 The complainant further submits that there is no legal basis in Austrian law for preliminary police inquiries such as the one carried out in the present case, although such inquiries are frequently conducted in Austria. Neither a magistrate’s preliminary investigation nor a legal preliminary inquiry, both provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedure, was carried out.