MAKARATZIS v. GREECE JUDGMENT 17 accused Mahairas. The bullet from which the other metal sabot [PP3] came, which was found inside the car, was fired by the Sphinx pistol no. A038275 that belonged to the accused Souliotis. The bullet that was removed from the body of the victim and a bullet that was found inside the car were fired by the same weapon, of Parabellum (9 x 19) calibre, but bear no relation to the traces left by the thirty-three weapons that were examined. The victim, Christos Makaratzis, was indeed injured by the submachine guns used by the police officers who took part in the chase and which were fired during the pursuit at the junction of Posidonos and Kalamakiou Streets where, apart from Souliotis, Mahairas and Markou [illegible] (third accused) other police officers fired who have not been identified, since there were many police officers who fired at that spot. This emerges indirectly from the fact that the bullet that was removed from the body of the victim and another one were fired by a weapon the owner of which was not identified and were not fired by the weapons of the accused. The fact that bullets and sabots that were found inside the car were fired by the weapons of the accused Souliotis and Mahairas leads to the conclusion that the physical injuries of the victim were caused by the weapons that belonged to the accused, apart from the one to his foot. In addition, since there were many bullet holes in his car that were caused by other, unidentified, weapons, the victim might have been injured by those bullets. As already stated, submachine guns and pistols are also of the same calibre. The first, second, third, sixth and seventh defendants fired shots for the purpose of intimidation in the area of the final operation (the petrol station). It is also to be noted that many others also fired shots there for intimidation purposes in order to assist their colleagues who were closer to the car to arrest the victim. They cannot have fired towards the car, because there was a danger of hitting the pumps of the petrol station, and there were no traces of gunshots in that area. The victim’s foot injury was caused from above, since only the top of the shoe was hit and not the sole, but it cannot be said that the shot was fired by the accused Markou, who had climbed on to the veranda of the petrol station, because the car was parked in such a way that almost half of it was under the veranda and thus the direction of the shot would have to have been almost vertical in order to hit the top part of the foot. If that had been the case, the bullet would also have had to go through a part of the dashboard. There is no trace of this, the closest mark being on the radio. Besides, if this injury had been caused by the weapon of the accused, it would have been confirmed by the expert investigation ... The injury was indeed on the top part of the foot; but it could have been caused by a shot that was fired from behind the car while the victim was driving and his foot was almost vertical to the accelerator, by one of the weapons fired at him at the junction of Kalamakiou and Posidonos Streets. The victim’s allegation that he was shot immediately after he was pulled out of the car must be considered groundless, since, as he stated, he was shot when he was ‘lying on his side, face down’. If that had been the case, the injury would have been different. Having regard to the above, and taking into account the fact that other police officers who have not been identified took part in the operation, some of whom possibly used their weapons, the Court has doubts as to whether the accused caused the victim’s injury. As a result, they should be declared innocent of the first act attributed to them. They should also be declared innocent of the second act because, although they used their weapons, they had attempted to stop the car by creating artificial traffic congestion and roadblocks and had failed, as the victim had continued driving while he was being chased by a large number of police officers, in a manner that was dangerous to the civilians that were in his way. Furthermore, the police officers did not know whether the civilians in the cars that had collided with the victim were killed, and they understandably considered him to be a dangerous criminal because of his behaviour and because they had received that information from the control centre. The Court also doubts whether the accused could have avoided using their weapons, which they did in