14 GIULIANI AND GAGGIO v. ITALY JUDGMENT 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,