CAT/C/48/D/433/2010 undertook a preliminary inquiry and took statements from the complainant, his stepsons and three police officers. The police officers who were interviewed stated that the complainant and his stepsons were questioned at the police station but that they did not observe any injuries. Other officers suggested that they were never even brought to the police station. 2.7 On 23 April 2007, a medical examination was conducted to evaluate his health. This document has never been provided to the complainant or his legal representatives. Between April and August 2007, the complainant was treated by a neurologist. He began to suffer from hallucinations and a sense of insurmountable and indeterminate fear. On 7 August 2007, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He was referred to a psychiatric hospital for further examination and treatment, where the diagnosis was confirmed, and he underwent treatment from 8 August to 3 September 2007. 2.8 On 8 May 2007, the investigator decided not to initiate a criminal investigation. The decision was upheld by the Senior Assistant Prosecutor for Kostanai City on 30 May 2007, but thereafter quashed by the City Prosecutor’s office on 10 June 2007 who ordered the Department of Internal Security within the Kostanai Regional Department of Interior Affairs to investigate the complainant’s allegations. 2.9 In June 2007, the complainant received several anonymous phone calls from unknown people who threatened him with initiation of a criminal case against him unless he withdrew his complaint. The complainant feared for his and his family’s safety and filed a complaint regarding the threats on 13 June 2007. On 12 June 2007, he had already filed a complaint to the Regional Prosecutor’s Office because police officers had offered his stepsons 500,000 tenge (approximately 4,000 USD) in exchange for the withdrawal of their complaints and their stepfather’s complaint. 2.10 On 19 June 2007, the Regional Prosecutor’s office for Kostanai Region (Regional Prosecutor’s Office) informed him that his complaint had been sent to the Department of Internal Security of the Regional Department of Internal Affairs for further review. On 28 June 2007, the Regional Department of Internal Affairs informed him that the review had resulted in finding a violation of the obligation to register a detainee and that disciplinary sanctions, up to removal from their positions, were to be taken against a number of staff. It also stated that criminal charges had been brought against staff of the Southern Department of Internal Affairs under article 308, part 4 (a), of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan, which criminalizes actions taken in excess of official authority or involving the use or threat of violence.4 2.11 On 16 July 2007, a scientific examination was conducted on the clothes worn by the complainant and three police officers present in the Southern Department of Internal Affairs on the night of 27 March 2007. Neither the complainant nor his lawyer knew about this examination. The examination concluded that fibers found on the complainant’s clothes were not similar to those found on the officers’ clothing. However, the results of the examination appear to have been compromised as the officers had washed their clothes. 2.12 In July, the Regional Prosecutor’s Office reversed the Regional Department of Internal Affairs decision to open a criminal investigation and sent the case to the Department for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption for the Kostanai Region (DCECC) for further examination. On 5 September 2007, DCECC refused to initiate criminal proceedings for lack of evidence establishing a link between the police officers’ actions and the complainant’s injuries. On 12 September 2007, the complainant appealed 4 4 These charges appear to have been dropped when the case was transferred to the Department for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption (DCECC) in September 2007.