30 TSALIKIDIS AND OTHERS v. GREECE JUDGMENT 104. The same considerations apply to the failure to obtain a new forensic report – which could have addressed the inconsistencies concerning the cause of death and the rope mark on the deceased’s neck – and a technical expert report examining the complexity of the knot. Although the Government maintained that no inconsistencies existed between the coroners’ opinions, the Court cannot fail to notice that the first coroner attributed Mr Tsalikidis’ death to pulmonary edema and the second coroner to cardiac arrest, but both conclusions were strongly contested by the applicants’ technical advisors. In addition, the conclusion of the initial autopsy was that Mr Tsalikidis had been hanged with a noose, whereas after the supplementary investigation the cause of death was noted by two of the three coroners as unclarified. The Court cannot share the Government’s view that after so many years this was the only possible conclusion in respect of the cause of death and that establishing the cause of death had anyway not been the purpose of the exhumation. In the Court’s view, the purpose of exhumation had been precisely to clarify the circumstances of Mr Tsalikidis’ death and to identify any traces of criminal activity which could have led to it. If this had not been so, the coroners would not have stated the cause of death in their reports and would simply have commented on the findings or the absence thereof. Lastly, the knot was initially described as an “everyday, simple knot”; however, the applicants’ technical advisor considered that it was particularly complex and would have required sailing knowledge to tie it. 105. The Court notes that the Government advanced various arguments as to why further investigative measures had not been necessary and tried to rebut the applicants’ allegations, relying on the certificate prepared by coroner Dr Ch.S., amongst others. However, the Court considers that it was the task of the public prosecutor to explain why no further investigative measures were necessary and why he decided to uphold the conclusion of order 80/06 despite the new evidence which had come to light. The order by which the supplementary investigation was closed did not contain any presentation or analysis of the available evidence such as the new findings of the histology report or the conclusions of the forensic reports. The Court thus notes that the Athens public prosecutor did not attempt to resolve the inconsistencies revealed at the stage of the supplementary investigation and, in deciding to terminate the supplementary investigation, failed to adequately investigate or explain the patently obvious contradictions that ensued from it (compare Başbilen v. Turkey, cited above, § 73). 106. In reaching this conclusion, the Court attaches some weight to the fact that the Athens public prosecutor at the Court of First Instance in his order 80/06 mentioned that the death of Costas Tsalikidis had been causally linked with the wiretapping case (see paragraph 13 above). It was therefore even more important for the domestic authorities – which could not have