- 107 3.5 Finally the complainant submits that the only domestic remedy still available is a civil action (Amtshaftungsklage). Such an action, however, would not be practicable, because in the absence of a thorough criminal investigation a civil action would fail. State party’s observations on admissibility 4.1 On 20 May 1999, the State party submits that the case should be declared inadmissible. The State party states that the interrogation of the complainant by the first investigation team was interrupted when the officer assigned to the case at the police station had him brought into his office to be examined by the medical officer of the Vienna Federal Police Directorate in order to determine whether his health and state of mind were impaired as a result of drug consumption. 4.2 After being examined by the medical officer, the complainant told another official of the station (Colonel P.) that he had been ill-treated by the officer who had questioned him, the medical office and other police officer. Colonel P. immediately informed the head of the police station of the complainant’s allegations. The latter phoned, without delay, the President of the Vienna Federal Police Directorate and the Director of the Criminal Investigations Office (Sicherheitsbüro) and requested them to take action. The Criminal Investigations office immediately opened an investigation. On the same day, only about one and a half hours after the complainant had made the allegations, he was taken to the Criminal Investigations Office and questioned at length. 4.3 The accused police officers and Colonel P. were interrogated extensively on 31 July and 1 August 1996. Five other police officers were also questioned thoroughly by officers of the Criminal Investigations Office on 2, 5 and 6 August 1996. The Criminal Investigations Office also tried, unsuccessfully, to find out whether a fourth person had been present during the alleged ill-treatment. 4.4 The Criminal Investigations Office submitted a Statement of Facts to the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office on 9 August 1996 reporting on the results of its investigations. The public prosecutor filed charges against the accused police officers with the Vienna Regional Criminal Court on 20 August 1996 for having inflicted suffering on and trying to coerce a prisoner. This information arrived at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court on 28 August 1996. 4.5 The Criminal Investigations Office continued its inquiries and found that a fourth person (G.W.) had come into the office where the complainant was being questioned. That person was an official from the Vienna city administration who testified that he had stayed in the office for no more than one or two minutes and that during this time there had been no signs of any ill-treatment of the complainant. This information was submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office on 26 August 1996. 4.6 On 7 October 1996 the trial against the three police officers began at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court. The complainant and the accused police officers were questioned at length by the court in the presence of the public prosecutor, counsel for the defence and the complainant’s representative. A number of witnesses were also questioned, including G.W. who repeated that he had stayed in the office, where the complainant allegedly had been ill-treated, for a short period and had not witnessed any ill-treatment.