CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;GRANDCHAMBER;ENG — 24 mars 2011

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text-align:left } .s85226119 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; font-size:10pt } .s653E6C45 { font-family:Arial; font-size:6.67pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 }       GRAND CHAMBER         CASE OF GIULIANI AND GAGGIO v. ITALY   (Application no. 23458/02)                     JUDGMENT       STRASBOURG   24 March 2011     This judgment is final but may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Giuliani and Gaggio v. Italy, The European Court of Human Rights, sitting as a Grand Chamber composed of:   Jean-Paul Costa, President,   Christos Rozakis,   Françoise Tulkens,   Ireneu Cabral Barreto,   Boštjan M. Zupančič,   Nina Vajić,   Elisabeth Steiner,   Alvina Gyulumyan,   Renate Jaeger,   David Thór Björgvinsson,   Ineta Ziemele,   Isabelle Berro-Lefèvre,   Ledi Bianku,   Nona Tsotsoria,   Zdravka Kalaydjieva,   Işıl Karakaş,   Guido Raimondi, judges, and Vincent Berger, Jurisconsult, Having deliberated in private on 29 September 2010 and on 16 February 2011, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on the last ‑ mentioned date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in an application (no. 23458/02) against the Italian Republic lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by three Italian nationals, Mr Giuliano Giuliani, Ms Adelaide Gaggio (married name Giuliani) and Ms Elena Giuliani (“the applicants”), on 18 June 2002. 2.     The applicants were represented by Mr N. Paoletti and Mr G. Pisapia, lawyers practising in Rome. The Italian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mrs E. Spatafora, and by their co-Agent, Mr N. Lettieri. 3.     The applicants complained of the death of their son and brother, Carlo   Giuliani, which they considered to have been caused by excessive use of force. They further alleged that the respondent State had not taken the necessary legislative, administrative and regulatory measures to reduce as far as possible the adverse consequences of the use of force, that the organisation and planning of the policing operations had not been compatible with the obligation to protect life and that the investigation into the circumstances of their relative's death had not been effective. 4.     The application was allocated to the Fourth Section of the Court (Rule   52 § 1 of the Rules of Court). On 6 February 2007, following a hearing on admissibility and the merits (Rule 54 § 3), it was declared admissible by a Chamber of that Section composed of the following judges: Sir Nicolas Bratza, Josep Casadevall, Giovanni Bonello, Kristaq Traja, Vladimiro Zagrebelsky, Stanislav Pavlovschi and Lech Garlicki, and also of Lawrence Early, Section Registrar. 5.     On 25 August 2009 a Chamber of that Section, composed of the following judges: Sir Nicolas Bratza, Josep Casadevall, Lech Garlicki, Giovanni Bonello, Vladimiro Zagrebelsky, Ljiljana Mijović and Ján Šikuta, and also of Lawrence Early, Section Registrar, delivered a judgment in which it held as follows: unanimously, that there had been no violation of Article 2 of the Convention in its substantive aspect with regard to the excessive use of force; by five votes to two, that there had been no violation of Article 2 of the Convention in its substantive aspect with regard to the positive obligation to protect life; by four votes to three, that there had been a violation of Article 2 of the Convention in its procedural aspect; unanimously, that it was not necessary to examine the case under Articles 3, 6 and 13 of the Convention; and unanimously, that there had been no violation of Article 38 of the Convention. It also awarded, in respect of non ‑ pecuniary damage, 15,000 euros (EUR) each to the applicants Giuliano   Giuliani and Adelaide Gaggio and EUR 10,000 to the applicant Elena Giuliani. 6.     On 24 November 2009 the Government and the applicants requested, in accordance with Article 43 of the Convention and Rule 73 of the Rules of Court, that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber. On 1 March 2010 a panel of the Grand Chamber granted the requests. 7.     The composition of the Grand Chamber was determined according to the provisions of Article 26 §§ 4 and 5 of the Convention and Rule 24 of the Rules of Court. 8.     The applicants and the Government each filed further written observations (Rule 59 § 1). 9.     On 27 September 2010 the judges and substitute judges appointed to sit in the present case viewed the CD-ROMs submitted by the parties on 28   June and 9 July 2010 (see paragraph 139 below). 10.     A hearing took place in public in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 29 September 2010 (Rule 59 § 3). There appeared before the Court: (a)     for the Government Mr   N. Lettieri ,   Co-Agent , Ms   P. Accardo ,   Co-Agent , Mr   G. Albenzio ,   Avvocato dello Stato; (b)     for the applicants Mr   N. Paoletti , Ms   G. Paoletti , Ms   N. Paoletti ,   Counsel, Ms   C. Sartori ,   Assistant.   The Court heard addresses by them. THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 11.     The applicants were born in 1938, 1944 and 1972 respectively and live in Genoa and Milan. They are the father, mother and sister of Carlo Giuliani, who was shot and killed during the demonstrations on the fringes of the G8 summit in Genoa in July 2001. A.     The background to the G8 summit in Genoa and the events preceding the death of Carlo Giuliani 12.     On 19, 20 and 21 July 2001 the G8 summit was held in Genoa. Numerous “anti-globalisation” demonstrations were staged in the city and substantial security measures were put in place by the Italian authorities. Under section 4(1) of Law no. 149 of 8 June 2000, the prefect of Genoa was authorised to deploy military personnel to ensure public safety in connection with the summit. In addition, the part of the city where the G8 were meeting (the historic centre) was designated as a “red zone” and cordoned off by means of a metal fence. As a result, only residents and persons working in the area were allowed access. Access to the port was prohibited and the airport was closed to traffic. The red zone was contained within a yellow zone, which in turn was surrounded by a white (normal) zone. 13.     The service instructions of 19 July 2001 were issued by the officer in command of the law-enforcement agencies the day before Carlo Giuliani's death. They sum up the priorities of the law-enforcement agencies as follows: establishing a line of defence within the red zone, with the task of repelling rapidly any attempt to break through; establishing a line of defence within the yellow zone to deal with any incidents, taking account of the position of the demonstrators in various locations and of actions perpetrated by more extremist elements; putting in place public-order measures on the streets concerned by the demonstrations, bearing in mind the risk of violence encouraged by the presence of crowds of people. 14.     The parties agreed as to the fact that the service instructions of 19   July 2001 amended the plans hitherto established regarding the deployment of the available means and resources, in order to enable the law-enforcement agencies to counter effectively any attempt to enter the red zone by participants in the demonstration of the Tute Bianche (“White overalls”) which had been announced and authorised for the following day. 15.     The applicants maintained that the service instructions of 19 July had given a detachment of carabinieri implicated in the death of Carlo Giuliani a dynamic role, whereas it had previously been supposed to remain in one location. The Government stated that the service instructions had been communicated orally to the officers on the ground. 16.     A radio communications system had been put in place, with an operations control room located in the Genoa police headquarters ( questura ), which was in radio contact with the officers on the ground. The carabinieri and police officers could not communicate directly amongst themselves by radio; they could only contact the control room. 17.     On the morning of 20 July some groups of particularly aggressive demonstrators, wearing balaclavas and masks (the “Black Bloc”) sparked numerous incidents and clashes with law-enforcement officers. The Tute Bianche march was due to set off from the Carlini stadium. This was a demonstration involving several organisations: representatives of the “No Global” movement and of community centres, and young communists from the Rifondazione comunista party. While they believed in non-violent protest (civil disobedience), they had announced a strategic objective, namely to try to penetrate the red zone. On 19 July 2001 the head of the Genoa police authority ( questore ) had prohibited the Tute Bianche march from entering the red zone or the zone adjacent to it, and had deployed law ‑ enforcement officers to halt the march at Piazza Verdi. Consequently, the demonstrators were able to march from the Carlini stadium and all the way along Via Tolemaide to Piazza Verdi, that is to say, well beyond the junction of Via Tolemaide and Corso Torino where clashes occurred, as detailed below. 18.     At around 1.30 p.m. the march set off and headed slowly westwards. Around Via Tolemaide there were signs of earlier disturbances. The march was headed by a contact group made up of politicians and a group of journalists carrying video recorders and cameras. The marchers slowed down and made a number of stops. In the vicinity of Via Tolemaide there were incidents involving persons wearing masks and balaclavas and law ‑ enforcement officers. The march reached the railway tunnel at the junction with Corso Torino. Suddenly, tear gas was fired on the demonstrators by carabinieri under the command of Mr Mondelli. The carabinieri charged forward, making use of their batons. The march was pushed back eastwards as far as the junction with Via Invrea. 19.     The demonstrators split up: some headed towards the seafront, while others sought refuge in Via Invrea and then in the area around Piazza Alimonda. Some demonstrators responded to the attack by throwing hard objects such as glass bottles or rubbish bins at the law-enforcement officers. Armoured vehicles belonging to the carabinieri drove up Via Casaregis and Via Invrea at high speed, knocking down the barriers erected by the demonstrators and forcing the demonstrators at the scene to leave. At 3.22   p.m. the control room ordered Mr Mondelli to move away and allow the marchers to pass. 20.     Some of the demonstrators retaliated with violence and clashes took place with the law-enforcement agencies. At around 3.40 p.m. a group of demonstrators attacked an armoured carabinieri van and set it alight. B.     The death of Carlo Giuliani 21.     At approximately 5 p.m. the presence of a group of demonstrators who appeared very aggressive was observed by the Sicilia battalion, consisting of around fifty carabinieri stationed close to Piazza Alimonda. Two Defender jeeps were parked nearby. Police officer Lauro ordered the carabinieri to charge the demonstrators. The carabinieri charged on foot, followed by the two jeeps. The demonstrators succeeded in pushing back the charge, and the carabinieri were forced to withdraw in disorderly fashion near Piazza Alimonda. Pictures taken from a helicopter at 5.23 p.m. show the demonstrators running along Via Caffa in pursuit of the law ‑ enforcement officers. 22.     In view of the withdrawal of the carabinieri the jeeps attempted to reverse away from the scene. One succeeded in moving off while the other found its exit blocked by an overturned refuse container. Suddenly, several demonstrators wielding stones, sticks and iron bars surrounded it. The two side windows at the rear and the rear window of the jeep were smashed. The demonstrators shouted insults and threats at the jeep's occupants and threw stones and a fire extinguisher at the vehicle. 23.     There were three carabinieri on board the jeep: Filippo Cavataio (“F.C.”), who was driving, Mario Placanica (“M.P.”) and Dario Raffone (“D.R.”). M.P., who was suffering from the effects of the tear-gas grenades he had thrown during the day, had been given permission by Captain Cappello, commander of a company of carabinieri , to get into the jeep in order to get away from the scene of the clashes. Crouched down in the back of the jeep, injured and panicking, he was protecting himself on one side with a riot shield (according to the statement of a demonstrator named Predonzani). Shouting at the demonstrators to leave “or he would kill them”, M.P. drew his Beretta 9 mm pistol, pointed it in the direction of the smashed rear window of the vehicle and, after some tens of seconds, fired two shots. 24.     One of the shots struck Carlo Giuliani, a balaclava-clad demonstrator, in the face under the left eye. He had been close to the rear of the jeep and had just picked an empty fire extinguisher off the ground and raised it up. He fell to the ground near the left-side rear wheel of the vehicle. 25.     Shortly afterwards, F.C. managed to restart the engine and in an attempt to move off, reversed, driving over Carlo Giuliani's body in the process. He then engaged first gear and drove over the body a second time as he left the scene. The jeep then drove towards Piazza Tommaseo. 26.     After “a few metres”, carabinieri sergeant-major Amatori got into the jeep and took over at the wheel, “as the driver was in a state of shock”. Another carabiniere named Rando also got in. 27.     Police forces stationed on the other side of Piazza Alimonda intervened and dispersed the demonstrators. They were joined by some carabinieri . At 5.27 p.m. a police officer present at the scene called the control room to request an ambulance. A doctor who arrived at the scene subsequently pronounced Carlo Giuliani dead. 28.     According to the Ministry of the Interior ( ministero dell'Interno ), it was impossible to indicate the exact number of carabinieri and police officers at the scene at the moment of Carlo Giuliani's death; there had been approximately fifty carabinieri , some 150 metres from the jeep. In addition, 200 metres away, near Piazza Tommaseo, there had been a group of police officers. 29.     Relying, inter alia , on witness evidence given by law-enforcement officers during a parallel set of proceedings (the “trial of the twenty-five”, see paragraphs 121-138 below), the applicants stated in particular that, while on Piazza Alimonda, the carabinieri had been able to take off their gas masks, eat and rest. With the situation “calm”, Captain Cappello had ordered M.P. and D.R. to board one of the two jeeps. He considered the two carabinieri to be mentally exhausted (“ a terra ”) and no longer physically fit for duty. Cappello also considered that M.P. should stop firing tear gas and took away his tear-gas gun and the pouch containing the tear-gas grenades. 30.     Referring to the photographs taken shortly before the fatal shot, the applicants stressed that the weapon had been held at a downward angle from the horizontal. They also referred to the statements made by Lieutenant ‑ Colonel Truglio (see paragraph 43 below), who said that he had been ten metres or so from Piazza Alimonda and thirty to forty metres away from the jeep. The carabinieri (around a hundred of them) had been some tens of metres from the jeep. The police officers had been at the end of Via Caffa, towards Piazza Tommaseo. The applicants submitted that the photographs in the investigation file clearly showed some carabinieri not far from the jeep. C.     The investigation by the domestic authorities 1.     The first steps in the investigation 31.     A spent cartridge was found a few metres from Carlo Giuliani's body. No bullet was found. A fire extinguisher and a bloodstained stone, among other objects, were found beside the body and were seized by the police. It emerges from the file that the public prosecutor's office entrusted thirty-six investigative measures to the police. The jeep in which M.P. had been travelling, and also the weapon and equipment belonging to him, remained in the hands of the carabinieri and were subsequently seized under a court order. A spent cartridge was found inside the jeep. 32.     During the night of 20 July 2001 the Genoa mobile police unit heard evidence from two police officers, Mr Martino and Mr Fiorillo. On 21 July Captain Cappello, who was in charge of the ECHO company, recounted the events of the previous day and gave the names of the carabinieri who had been in the jeep. He said that he had heard no shots, probably because of his radio earpiece, his helmet and his gas mask, which reduced his hearing. 2.     Placing under investigation of M.P. and F.C. 33.     On the night of 20 July 2001 M.P. and F.C. were identified and examined by the Genoa public prosecutor's office on suspicion of intentional homicide. The interviews took place at the headquarters of the Genoa carabinieri . (a)     M.P.'s first statement 34.     M.P. was an auxiliary carabiniere assigned to Battalion no. 12 (Sicilia), and one of the members of the ECHO company constituted for the purpose of the G8 summit. Together with four other companies from different regions of Italy, the company formed part of the CCIR, under the orders of Lieutenant-Colonel Truglio. The ECHO company was under the orders of Captain Cappello and his deputies Mirante and Zappia, and was directed and coordinated by Mr Lauro, a senior officer ( vice questore ) of the Rome police. Each of the five companies was divided into four detachments of fifty men. The overall commander of the companies was Colonel Leso. 35.     M.P., who was born on 13 August 1980 and began serving as a carabiniere on 16 September 2000, was twenty years and eleven months old at the material time. He was trained in the use of grenades and had been deployed to fire tear gas. He stated that during the public-order operations he had been supposed to move around on foot with his detachment. Having fired several tear-gas grenades, he had felt a burning in his eyes and face and had asked Captain Cappello for permission to board a jeep. Shortly afterwards another carabiniere (D.R.), who was injured, had joined him. 36.     M.P. said that he had been very frightened because of everything he had seen being thrown that day, and was particularly afraid that the demonstrators would throw Molotov cocktails. He explained that he had grown more afraid after being injured in the leg by a metal object and in the head by a stone. He had become aware that the jeep was under attack because of the stones being thrown and had thought that “hundreds of demonstrators were surrounding the jeep”, although he added that “at the time [he] fired the shots, no one was in sight”. He said he had been “panic ‑ stricken”. At some point he realised that his hand was gripping his pistol; he thrust the hand carrying the weapon through the jeep's rear window and, after about a minute, fired two shots. He maintained that he had not noticed Carlo Giuliani behind the jeep either before or after firing. (b)     F.C.'s statement 37.     F.C., the jeep's driver, was born on 3 September 1977 and had been serving as a carabiniere for twenty-two months. At the material time he was twenty-three years and ten months old. He stated that he had been in an alleyway near Piazza Alimonda and had attempted to reverse towards the square because the detachment was being pushed back by the demonstrators. However, he had found his path blocked by a refuse container and his engine had stalled. He had concentrated on trying to move the jeep out while his colleagues inside the vehicle were shouting. As a result, he had not heard the shots. Lastly, he stated: “I did not notice anyone on the ground because I was wearing a mask, which partly blocked my view ... and also because it is hard to see properly out the side of the vehicle. I reversed and felt no resistance; actually, I felt the left wheel jolt and thought it must be a pile of rubbish, since the refuse container had been overturned. The only thought in my head was how to get out of that mess.” (c)     D.R.'s statement 38.     D.R., who was born on 25 January 1982, had been performing military service since 16 March 2001. At the material time he was nineteen years and six months old. He stated that he had been struck in the face and back by stones thrown by demonstrators and had started to bleed. He had tried to protect himself by covering his face, and M.P. for his part had tried to shield him with his body. At that point, he could no longer see anything, but he could hear the shouting and the sound of blows and objects entering the jeep. He heard M.P. shouting at their attackers to stop and leave, and then heard two shots. (d)     M.P.'s second statement 39.     On 11 September 2001 M.P., during questioning by the public prosecutor, confirmed his statement of 20 July 2001, adding that he had shouted to the demonstrators: “Leave or I'll kill you!”. 3.     Other statements taken during the investigation (a)     Statements by other carabinieri 40.     Sergeant-Major Amatori, who was in the other jeep on Piazza Alimonda, said that he had noticed that the jeep in which M.P. was travelling had its path blocked by a refuse container and was surrounded by a large number of demonstrators, “certainly more than twenty”. The latter were throwing objects at the jeep. In particular, he saw one demonstrator throw a fire extinguisher at the rear window. He heard shots and saw Carlo Giuliani fall down. The jeep then drove twice over Carlo Giuliani's body. Once the jeep had succeeded in leaving Piazza Alimonda, he went over to it and saw that the driver had got out and, visibly shaken, was asking for help. The sergeant-major took over the driving seat and, noticing that M.P. had a pistol in his hand, ordered him to replace the safety catch. He immediately thought that this was the weapon that had just fired the shots, but said nothing to M.P., who was injured and whose head was bleeding. The driver told him that he had heard shots while he was manoeuvring the jeep. The sergeant-major was not given any explanation as to the circumstances surrounding the decision to shoot and did not ask any questions on the subject. 41.     Carabiniere Rando had gone over to the jeep on foot. He said that he had seen that the pistol was drawn and asked M.P. if he had fired. M.P. said that he had, without specifying whether he had fired into the air or in the direction of a particular demonstrator. M.P. kept saying: “They wanted to kill me, I don't want to die”. 42.     On 11 September 2001 the public prosecutor heard evidence from Captain Cappello, commander of the ECHO company (see paragraph 34 above). Captain Cappello stated that he had given M.P. permission to board the jeep and had taken his tear-gas gun as M.P. was experiencing difficulties. He stated subsequently (at the “trial of the twenty five”, hearing of 20 September 2005) that M.P. had been physically unfit to continue on account of his mental state and nervous tension. Captain Cappello had then moved with his men – about fifty in number – towards the corner of Piazza Alimonda and Via Caffa. He was requested by police officer Lauro to proceed up Via Caffa in the direction of Via Tolemaide to assist the men engaged there in trying to push back the demonstrators. He said he had been puzzled by the request, given the number of men with him and their state of tiredness, but had nevertheless stationed them on Via Caffa. The carabinieri were forced back by the demonstrators coming from Via Tolemaide; they initially withdrew in an orderly manner, and then in disorderly fashion. Mr   Cappello did not realise that, when the carabinieri withdrew, they were being followed by the two jeeps, as there was no “operational reason” for the vehicles to be there. The demonstrators dispersed only when the mobile police units stationed on the other side of Piazza Alimonda intervened. Only then did he observe a man wearing a balaclava lying on the ground, apparently seriously injured. Some of his men were wearing helmets equipped with video cameras which should make it possible to shed light on the sequence of events; the video recordings were handed over to Colonel   Leso. 43.     Lieutenant-Colonel Truglio, Captain Cappello's superior officer, stated that he had stopped around ten metres from Piazza Alimonda and thirty to forty metres from the jeep, and had seen the jeep drive over a body lying on the ground. ( b)     Statement by police officer Lauro 44.     On 21 December 2001 Mr Lauro gave evidence to the public prosecutor. He stated that he had learnt of the change to the service instructions on the morning of 20 July 2001. At the hearing of 26 April 2005 during the “trial of the twenty-five”, he stated that he had been informed on 19 July 2001 that no march was authorised for the following day. On 20 July he had still been unaware that an authorised march was due to take place. During the day he went to Piazza Tommaseo, where clashes were taking place with demonstrators. At 3.30 p.m., while the situation was calm, Lieutenant-Colonel Truglio and the two jeeps joined the contingent. Between 4 p.m. and 4.45 p.m. the contingent was involved in clashes on Corso Torino. It then arrived in the vicinity of Piazza Tommaseo and Piazza Alimonda. Lieutenant-Colonel Truglio and the two jeeps came back and the contingent was reorganised. Mr Lauro observed a group of demonstrators at the end of Via Caffa who had formed a barrier using wheeled refuse containers and were advancing towards the law-enforcement officers. He asked Captain Cappello whether his men were in a position to deal with the situation and the latter replied in the affirmative. Mr Lauro and the contingent therefore took up positions close to Via Caffa. He heard an order to withdraw and took part in the disorderly withdrawal of the contingent. (c)     Other statements made to the public prosecutor 45.     Some demonstrators present at the time of the events also gave statements to the public prosecutor. Some of them said they had been very close to the jeep and had themselves thrown stones and had struck the jeep with sticks and other objects. According to one demonstrator, M.P. had cried: “Bastards, I'm going to kill the lot of you!”. Another noticed that the carabiniere inside the jeep had taken out his pistol; the demonstrator then shouted to his friends to watch out and moved away. Another demonstrator said that M.P. had been protecting himself on one side with a riot shield. 46.     Some individuals who witnessed the events from the windows of their homes said they had seen a demonstrator pick up a fire extinguisher and raise it up. They had heard two shots and had seen the demonstrator fall to the ground. 4.     Audiovisual material 47.     The public prosecutor's office ordered the law-enforcement agencies to hand over any audiovisual material which might help in reconstructing the events on Piazza Alimonda. Photographs had been taken and video recordings made by film crews, helicopter cameras and miniature video cameras in the helmets of some of the officers. Pictures taken by private individuals were also available. 5.     The forensic examinations (a)     The autopsy 48.     Within twenty-four hours the public prosecutor's office ordered an autopsy to establish the cause of Carlo Giuliani's death. On 21 July 2001 at 12.10 p.m. notice of the autopsy – specifying that the injured party could appoint an expert and a lawyer – was served on the first applicant, Carlo Giuliani's father. At 3.15 p.m. Mr Canale and Mr Salvi, the experts appointed by the prosecuting authorities, were given their official brief and work commenced on the autopsy. The applicants did not send any representative or expert of their own. 49.     The experts requested the public prosecutor's office to give them sixty days to prepare their report. The request was granted. On 23 July 2001 the public prosecutor's office authorised the cremation of Carlo Giuliani's body in accordance with the family's wishes. 50.     The expert report was submitted on 6 November 2001. It found that Carlo Giuliani had been struck below the left eye by a bullet which had passed through the skull and exited through the rear of the skull on the left. The bullet's trajectory had been as follows: it had been fired from a distance exceeding fifty centimetres and had travelled from front to back, from right to left and in a downward direction. Carlo Giuliani had been 1.65 metres tall. The person firing the shot had been facing the victim and slightly to his right. According to the experts, the bullet injury to the head had resulted in death within a few minutes; the jeep's being driven over the body had caused only insignificant minor injuries to the organs in the thorax and the abdomen. (b)     The expert medical examinations carried out on M.P. and D.R. 51.     After leaving Piazza Alimonda the three carabinieri who had been in the jeep went to the casualty department of Genoa Hospital. M.P. complained of diffuse bruising to his right leg and an injury to the skull with open wounds; against the advice of the doctors, who wished to admit him, M.P. signed a discharge and left the hospital at around 9.30 p.m. He had an injury to the skull which, he said, had been caused by a blow to the head with a blunt instrument while he had been in the jeep. 52.     D.R. presented with bruising and abrasions to the nose and the right cheekbone and bruises on the left shoulder and left foot. F.C. was suffering from a post ‑ traumatic psychological disorder and was expected to recover within fifteen days. 53.     Medical examinations were carried out to establish the nature of the injuries and their connection with the attack on the jeep's occupants. The reports concluded that the injuries sustained by M.P. and D.R. had not been life-threatening. M.P.'s head injuries could have been caused by a stone thrown at him, but it was not possible to determine the origin of his other injuries. The injury to D.R.'s face could have been caused by a stone thrown at him and his shoulder injury by a blow from a wooden plank. (c)     The ballistics tests ordered by the public prosecutor's office (i)     The first set of tests 54.     On 4 September 2001 the public prosecutor's office instructed Mr   Cantarella to establish whether the two spent cartridges found at the scene (one in the jeep and the other a few metres from Carlo Giuliani's body – see paragraph 31 above) had come from the same weapon, and specifically from M.P.'s weapon. In his report of 5 December 2001 the expert concluded that there was a 90% probability that the cartridge found in the jeep had come from M.P.'s pistol, whereas there was only a 10% probability that the cartridge found close to Carlo Giuliani's body had issued from the same weapon. In accordance with Article 392 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (“the CCP”), these tests were carried out unilaterally, that is to say, without the injured party having an opportunity to participate. (ii)     The second set of tests 55.     The public prosecutor's office appointed a second expert, police inspector Manetto. The latter, in a report submitted on 15 January 2002, stated that there was a 60% probability that the spent cartridge found near the victim's body had come from M.P.'s weapon. He concluded that both the cartridges had come from M.P.'s pistol, and estimated the distance between M.P. and Carlo Giuliani at the moment of impact at between 110 and 140 centimetres. The tests were conducted unilaterally. (iii)     The third set of tests 56.     On 12 February 2002 the public prosecutor's office instructed a panel of experts (made up of Mr Balossino, Mr Benedetti, Mr Romanini and Mr Torre) “to reconstruct, even in virtual form, the actions of M.P. and Carlo Giuliani in the moments immediately before and after the bullet struck the victim's body”. In particular, the experts were asked to “establish the distance between M.P. and Carlo Giuliani, their respective angles of vision and M.P.'s field of vision inside the jeep at the moment the shots were fired”. It appears from the file that Mr Romanini had published an article in September 2001 in a specialist journal ( TAC Armi ), in which he expressed the view, among other things, that M.P.'s actions had constituted “a clear and wholly justified defensive reaction”. 57.     The representatives and experts appointed by the applicants attended the examinations by the panel of experts. The applicants' lawyer, Mr Vinci, stated that he did not wish to make an application for the immediate production of evidence ( incidente probatorio ). Article 392 §§ 1 (f) and 2 of the CCP allows the public prosecutor and the accused, among other things, to request the investigating judge ( giudice per le indagini preliminari ) to order a forensic examination where the latter concerns a person, object or place which is subject to unavoidable alteration or where, if ordered during the trial, the examination in question could entail suspension of the proceedings for a period exceeding sixty days. Under Article 394 of the CCP the injured party may request the public prosecutor to apply for the immediate production of evidence. If the public prosecutor refuses the request, he or she must issue an order giving reasons and must serve it on the injured party. 58.     An on-site inspection was conducted on 20 April 2002. Traces of the impact of a shot were found on the wall of a building on Piazza Alimonda, at a height of about five metres. 59.     On 10 June 2002 the experts submitted their report. The experts stated at the outset that the fact that they had not had access to Carlo Giuliani's body (because it had been cremated) had been a major obstacle which had prevented them from producing an exhaustive report, as they had been unable to re-examine parts of the body and search for micro-traces. On the basis of the “little material available” the experts attempted to establish first of all what the impact of the bullet had been on Carlo Giuliani's body, setting out the following considerations. 60.     The injuries to the skull had been very serious and had resulted in death “within a short space of time”. The bullet had not exited whole from Carlo Giuliani's head; the report ( referto radiologico ) of the full body scan performed before the autopsy referred to a “subcutaneous fragment, probably metal” above the bones in the occipital region. This piece of opaque metal looked like a fragment of bullet casing. The appearance of the entry wound on the face did not lend itself to an unequivocal interpretation; its irregular shape was explained chiefly by the type of tissue in the part of the body struck by the bullet. However, one possible explanation was that the bullet had not hit Carlo Giuliani directly, but had encountered an intermediate object which could have distorted it and slowed it down before it reached the victim's body. That hypothesis would explain the small dimensions of the exit wound and the fact that the bullet had fragmented inside Carlo Giuliani's head. 61.     The experts reported finding a small fragment of lead, probably from the bullet, which had come off Carlo Giuliani's balaclava when the latter was being handled; it was impossible to ascertain whether the fragment had come from the front, side or back of the balaclava. It bore traces of a substance which was not part of the bullet as such, but came from material used in the building industry. In addition, micro-fragments of lead were found on the front and back of the balaclava, apparently confirming the hypothesis that the bullet had lost part of its casing at the moment of impact. According to the experts, it was not possible to establish the nature of the “intermediate object” apparently hit by the bullet; however, they ruled out the possibility that it was the fire extinguisher which Carlo Giuliani had been holding in his outstretched hand. The distance from which the shot had been fired had been in excess of 50-100 centimetres. 62.     In order to reconstruct the events on the basis of the “intermediate object theory”, the experts then had some test shots fired and conducted video and computer simulations. They concluded that it was not possible to establish the bullet's trajectory as the latter had undoubtedly been altered as a result of the collision. On the basis of video footage showing a stone disintegrating in the air and of the shot that could be heard on the soundtrack, the experts concluded that the stone had shattered immediately after the shot had been fired. A computer simulation showed the bullet, fired upwards, hitting Carlo Giuliani after colliding with the stone in question, thrown at the jeep by another demonstrator. The experts estimated that the distance between Carlo Giuliani and the jeep had been approximately 1.75   metres and that M.P. had been able to see Carlo Giuliani at the moment the shot was fired. 6.     The applicants' investigations 63.     The applicants submitted a statement made to their lawyer by J.M., one of the demonstrators, on 19 February 2002. J.M. stated in particular that Carlo Giuliani had still been alive after the jeep had driven over his body. The applicants also produced a statement made by a carabiniere (V.M.), who reported a widespread practice among law-enforcement officers consisting in altering bullets of the kind used by M.P. in order to increase their capacity to expand and hence fragment. 64.     Lastly, the applicants submitted two reports drawn up by experts they themselves had chosen. According to one of the experts, Mr Gentile, the bullet had already been in fragments when it struck the victim. The fact that it had fragmented could be explained by a manufacturing defect or by its having been manipulated to make it more likely to break up. In the expert's view, however, these two scenarios occurred only rarely and were therefore less likely than the one advanced by the prosecuting authorities' experts (namely that the bullet had collided with an intermediate object). 65.     The other experts appointed by the applicants to reconstruct the events concluded that the stone had shattered on impact with the jeep rather than with the bullet fired by M.P.. In order to reconstruct the events on the basis of the audiovisual material, and especially of the photographs, it was necessary to establish the exact position of the photographer, and in particular his or her angle of vision, taking into account also the type of equipment used. In addition, it was necessary to establish the timing of the images and how they fitted in with the sound. The applicants' experts criticised the method used by the prosecuting authorities' experts, who had based their analysis on “video and computer simulations” and had not analysed the available images rigorously and in detail. The method used to perform the test shots was also criticised. 66.     The applicants' experts concluded that Carlo Giuliani had been about three metres away from the jeep when the shot was fired. While it was undeniable that the fatal bullet had been in fragments when it struck the victim, the possibility of its having collided with the stone which could be seen in the video should be ruled out. A stone