E/CN.4/2000/9/Add.3 page 8 which an officer would repeatedly jump. The officers also threatened to kill him and he could hear his friend being ill-treated as well. He nevertheless refused to make any statement while in police custody. On the third day of detention they were informed that they were under an arrest warrant and on the eighth day they were taken to the prosecutor, at Macovei’s request. During the transportation to the prosecutor’s office, the police threatened to continue the beatings if they did not confess or if they complained about the beatings. At the prosecutor’s office Macovei made a statement recognizing the facts, that is, that he was present when his friend stole some items from the complainant, for whom they had been working and who had refused to pay them. An ex officio lawyer was present at the prosecutor’s office, but the lawyer did not consult with Florin Macovei. Two investigating officers were also present. He claims that the prosecutor obviously knew that he had been beaten, but nevertheless accepted the statement. He was then taken back to the basement of the railway police premises and held for a further 24 hours without being subjected to further ill-treatment, then transferred to Iasi. He informed the Special Rapporteur that he had filed a complaint with the military prosecutor’s office in Bucharest in August 1998, and then to the military prosecutor’s office in Iasi. Neither has replied to his complaint. 23. Viorel Baciu, also interviewed at Iasi penitentiary, was detained on 19 September 1996 on charges of stealing grain from public grounds. He was immediately taken to the county police station in Suceava and then to the prosecutor’s office. He claims that he was implicated in the crime by another suspect, who had been tortured and promised a lighter sentence if he provided the names of his accomplices. Viorel Baciu, however, alleged that the real motivation for his arrest was the fact that the date of 20 September had been set for the court hearing of his complaint against police officers who he claims had beaten him during a prior arrest in 1988. He was eventually found innocent of the charges in this earlier case. When he was arrested in 1996, the police taunted him by telling him that he would miss his court hearing. When he was taken to the prosecutor, he demanded to be confronted with his accuser; the prosecutor refused. Viorel Baciu therefore refused to make a statement. He claims that he could prove that he could not possibly have committed the alleged crime because he was able to provide records that showed he was at the dentist at the time of the crime. He further claims that the defendant who implicated him had admitted that he had given Viorel Baciu’s name under torture and that two others were in fact involved in the crime. He alleges that an arrest warrant for 30 days was issued and after the 30 days he was transferred to the Iasi penitentiary without a court order. He claims that it was more than a year before the court issued the order and, therefore, his detention was illegal. He also alleged that he had been threatened by prison officials not to complain about his treatment. 24. As mentioned above, the Special Rapporteur visited police lock-ups in Bucharest, Craiova, Bacau, Iasi, Urziceni municipality and Vashli. In each of these lock-ups the Special Rapporteur visited detention cells and spoke with detainees. In the vast majority of the cases, the detainees had confessed to the crime because their guilt was obvious. Virtually none of the detainees complained of ill-treatment on the part of the police. The Special Rapporteur recognizes that those still in detention at police lock-ups, where abuse is reported to take place most frequently, may fear reprisals and, therefore, be hesitant to report abuse. Nevertheless, there were no outward signs of abuse, for example bruises or cuts, and as most detainees readily conceded their guilt, coercion was not necessary. One exception involved a detainee who wished to remain anonymous. This individual was reportedly rearrested on 26 April 1999 for