14 HARUTYUNYAN v. ARMENIA JUDGMENT torture of witnesses T. and A. had been used as a basis for the applicant’s conviction. The Court of Cassation also referred to the applicant’s confession of 16 April 1999 as proof of his guilt. Finally, despite numerous requests by the defence, none of the courts at any of the three levels of jurisdiction delivered a decision declaring the statements obtained under torture inadmissible, although they were vested with such a right under Article 106 of the CCP. In sum, the Government’s assertion that the evidence obtained under torture was not used as a basis for the applicant’s conviction contradicted the circumstances of the case. 57. The applicant further submitted that the use of evidence obtained under torture was in violation of Article 6 of the Convention. It was evident from the judgments of the courts at all three levels of jurisdiction that the coerced statements by the applicant and witness T. played a decisive role in securing the applicant’s conviction. It was true that the applicant’s conviction had also been based on a number of other items of evidence. However, this other evidence was used simply to confirm the three main items of evidence in the case, namely the statements by the applicant and witnesses T. and A., which had been made under duress. The courts also based their findings on the statement made by witness T. during the first trial in the Syunik Regional Court. However, the case had been examined three times by the Regional Court and at both the second and third trials witness T. submitted that he had been forced to slander the applicant as a result of torture and intimidation and that he was not aware of the circumstances of serviceman H.’s death. 2. The Court’s assessment 58. The Court considers it necessary first of all to address the parties’ arguments as to whether the applicant’s confession statements of 16 and 17 April 1999 and the statements by witnesses T. and A. of 5 March 1999, which had been obtained under duress, were used by the domestic courts as evidence in the criminal proceedings against the applicant. Having regard to the judgment of the Syunik Regional Court of 19 June 2002, the Court notes that the Regional Court cited the applicant’s confession statements without expressing any doubts as to their credibility (see paragraph 25 above). Furthermore, in rebutting the applicant’s plea of innocence, the Regional Court explicitly relied, inter alia, on witness T.’s statement of 5 March 1999 (see paragraph 26 above). The Regional Court concluded by stating that “the coercion was applied by the police officers at the military police station for the purpose of ensuring disclosure of the truth” (see paragraph 27 above). This statement prompts the Court to believe that, despite the fact of ill-treatment, the Regional Court did not see any reason to doubt the credibility of the statements made by the applicant and witnesses T. and A. in March and April 1999 and therefore to exclude these statements as evidence. Furthermore, the Criminal and Military Court of Appeal in its