system. An exception is the case of an employee of Prison No. 1, who was sentenced, in accordance with article 328 paragraph 2 (c) of the Criminal Code on 9 December 2008, to a fine and the deprivation of the right to hold public functions for a period of 3 years, for committing actions that humiliated the dignity of a prisoner on 29 December 2007. In 2009 no cases of torture were registered in the penitentiary system. During this year the Penitentiary Institutions Department of the Ministry of Justice initiated 2 internal investigations regarding the alleged ill-treatment of two detainees, from which one of the cases was sent to the Prosecutor Office. The facts alleged in the second case have not been confirmed. Of 473 petitions examined in 2008 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), 38 concerned cases of ill-treatment and illegal detention of citizens. In 18 cases false facts were reported; in 15 cases the facts have been confirmed (employees have been sanctioned disciplinarily); in 19 cases the files were submitted to the prosecution bodies (for criminal procedure), and in 6 cases the petitions were sent to judicial courts (for examination of criminal cases filed by the petitioners). During the first 10 months of 2009 the MIA examined 334 petitions, of which 33 cases concerned mistreatment of persons by police employees. In 11 cases the alleged mistreatment was not confirmed; in 4 cases the court applied an administrative fine to both sides of the conflict; in 2 cases the investigation was suspended until the decision on the criminal case was issued; in 16 cases the files were sent to the prosecutor, of which no criminal procedure was commenced in 2 cases (the employees were only warned about the due treatment of citizens). Thus, 204 criminal cases were initiated in 2009, compared with 215 during the same period of the previous year. 60 of these concerned cases of excess of power (59 in 2008), 34 cases of torture (13 in 2008), and 5 cases of coercion to make statements (12 in 2008). 20 police employees were dismissed following a court decision. • To obtain evidence by illegal means; 151 A/HRC/13/39/Add.6 The examination of such cases reveal that police officers commit actions that clearly exceed the limits of rights and powers granted to them by law; they apply force and violence, and torture people for the following reasons: