12 MAKARATZIS v. GREECE JUDGMENT weapon when he waved to him to stop. The police roadblocks were set up because they had been ordered by the control centre. We also created artificial traffic congestion with civilian cars at the traffic lights. During the incident we noticed that civilians were injured, that cars were turned upside down; we didn’t have any other way of stopping him, after the roadblocks and the artificial traffic congestion. The last roadblock was on Kalamakiou Street. There were police officers on foot in the side street. He drove straight at them. That was the moment when the first gunshots were fired. That was also the moment when my colleagues first fired from the car at his tyres. It is possible that other weapons were used besides the thirty-three that were confiscated. For that matter, the bullet that was taken from his leg did not belong to any of the thirty-three weapons that were confiscated. If someone had fired in the victim’s direction at the petrol station, the petrol would have caught fire. At the petrol station they fired shots in the air. Probably in order to cover the colleague that went to pull him out. One of my colleagues climbed up on to the veranda and threw a pot at him to create confusion. Boulketis pulled him out and handcuffed him. We saw that he was bleeding and they took him to hospital. The investigation was carried out by our officers and some other department, not by those of us who had gone to the police station.” 2. Mr Nomikos “I was on the old coastal avenue in Agia Skepi. I saw a vehicle driving erratically. We got an order from the control centre and went after it. On the way we saw all the accidents, the cars that had been hit and someone who was injured. We reached Kalamakiou from Amfitheas. We were far behind. We didn’t hear any gunshots. Even if there had been gunshots, we would not have heard them. Mr Boulketis, who was with me, had a bullet-proof vest. He put it on, while another colleague broke the window. Mr Boulketis pulled the driver out and put handcuffs on him, but when he saw that he had been injured he removed them. The victim was looking right and left; his hands were on the floor, we could not see them, and we assumed he had a gun. When we reached the petrol station, I heard one or two gunshots; I don’t know where they came from. Boulketis and Xilogiannis were with me in the police car. Xilogiannis and I didn’t have bullet-proof vests and we didn’t move closer, as Boulketis did. There were a lot of police cars and motorcycles. There is no way any weapons could have been concealed or changed hands. Our weapons are given to each of us personally. We do not give them to other colleagues. At the petrol station, when we moved closer so that Boulketis could pull the driver out of the car, nobody fired. No colleague could have become involved in the incident without receiving an order, unless someone heard about it and came on his own initiative. If such a person had used his weapon, there is no way he would have left without handing it over.” 3. Mr Xilogiannis “I was the driver of the last police car, where Mr Boulketis was. We received an order from the centre and we followed the chase. We were the last to get to the petrol station where the Skoda was parked. There were a lot of police cars and motorcycles. Everybody was out of their cars; the Skoda was right next to the pump that is on the right-hand side when facing the petrol station. Everyone was out of their cars ... Mr Boulketis put on his bullet-proof vest and I covered him from the back, while behind me there were more officers covering him. When we got there, we heard some gunshots. When we got out of the car and were standing very close to the Skoda two