CCPR/C/116/D/2231/2012 2.12 The author submits that the relatives also threatened potential defence witnesses, and even the police advised potential witnesses not to attend the hearing. As a result, the defence lawyers were again unable to call and examine witnesses. On 10 November 2010, the appeal court rejected the appeals and upheld the sentences of the trial court. The author was moved on 11 November to Zhalal-Abad police detention centre where he was kicked in the chest and further humiliated by being stripped and called derogatory names. By the time he was finally transferred out of police custody to a prison in Bishkek on 12 November, his health had severely deteriorated. 2.13 Lawyers for the author and his co-defendants appealed to the Supreme Court and for the first time were able to file the witness statements that substantiated the author’s version of events and could establish his innocence. They included 14 witness statements to the effect that the author was at home on the morning the policeman was killed. Although the hearing of the case at the Supreme Court was relatively safe, that is, not dominated by relatives and supporters of the deceased police officer, the author was not allowed to attend. Despite having accepted the applications of the defence and the witness statements, the Supreme Court apparently did not take this evidence into account. 2.14 In its written decision of 20 December 2011, the Supreme Court did not refer to the new witness statements, summarily dismissed other defence arguments as not corresponding to the content of the case file and declined to order an investigation into the torture allegations. It upheld the verdict and sentence against the author and six of his codefendants (the Court overturned the conviction on one charge against the seventh codefendant and reduced her sentence from 20 years’ imprisonment to 11 years). 2.15 In December 2011 and February 2012, a renowned medical specialist based in the United States of America, Dr. Sondra Crosby, examined the author in the prison in Bishkek at the request of the Open Society Justice Initiative and Physicians for Human Rights. In her report, the expert confirmed that the author appeared to have suffered severe and lasting physical injuries as a result of his arrest and incarceration, and that his injuries supported his account of torture while in police custody. At the time of Dr. Crosby’s examination, the author needed immediate medical assistance for persistent visual loss, traumatic brain injury and spinal injury. In addition, he required immediate evaluation for his chest pain and shortness of breath, symptoms strongly suggestive of coronary artery disease, which could be life- threatening if not treated immediately. None of the tests or treatment has been provided to date. 2.16 The author has exhausted all available domestic remedies. During his trial and after his conviction, his lawyer repeatedly complained of torture before the Bazar-Korgon District Court, the appeal court and the Supreme Court. He also filed several requests with the prosecutor’s office to investigate his allegations of torture; the author furthermore complained of torture to the Office of the Ombudsman of the Kyrgyz Republic. 2.17 Despite these requests, no criminal investigation took place. In denying the requests to investigate, the authorities repeatedly referred to two statements made by the author while in police custody that he had no complaints — statements made as a result of threats of further torture. The prosecutors have continued to ignore all the evidence provided by the author and his lawyer about the torture that the author endured, including multiple detailed and consistent accounts of his mistreatment set out in legal documents, statements, details provided to the Ombudsman, interviews with media and non-governmental organizations and medical records, including the two evaluations by the foreign medical specialist. The complaint 3.1 The author claims that the treatment inflicted upon him by police officers in detention, motivated by the desire to obtain a false confession, to discriminate against him 4