BOUYID v. BELGIUM JUDGMENT 3 officers – which allegation is disputed by the Government – one on 8 December 2003 and the other on 23 February 2004. They submitted that those events had taken place against a background of tense relations between their family and certain officers in the police station. A. Events of 8 December 2003 and 23 February 2004 1. The events of 8 December 2003 11. The applicants submitted that on 8 December 2003, at around 4 p.m., the first applicant had been standing with a friend in the street outside the door of the building where he lived with his family and, since he had forgotten his keys, had been ringing the bell so that his parents would let him in, when a plain-clothes policeman, A.Z., had asked him to show him his identity card. The first applicant had refused to comply, asking the officer to show him his credentials. The officer had then grabbed him by his jacket – tearing it – and taken him to the police station. The first applicant had been placed in a room and, while he was alone with A.Z., the officer had slapped him in the face as he was protesting about his arrest. 12. The applicants provided a certificate issued at 7.20 p.m. on the same day by a general practitioner attesting that the first applicant had been “in a state of shock” and had presented the following injuries: “erythema on the left cheek (disappearing)” and “erythema on the left-side external auditory canal”. 13. The Government submitted that, on account of the first applicant’s refusal to show him his identity card, Officer A.Z. had had no choice but to take him to the police station for identification. The first applicant had then caused a scene, claiming to have suffered an injustice and been subjected to an unlawful identity check, and had insulted an officer who was telling him to calm down. He had been allowed to leave the police station once his identity had been verified and after being informed by A.Z. that a police report would be filed against him for forceful resistance to a public officer, abusive behaviour and verbal threats. He had returned to the police station a few minutes later with his parents, accusing A.Z. of having struck him, but the officer had always denied this. 14. At 6 p.m. A.Z. had lodged a criminal complaint against the first applicant, alleging forceful resistance to a public officer, abusive behaviour and verbal threats. The record drawn up on that occasion showed that A.Z. had notified his superiors of the events at 5.30 p.m., as well as a certain Superintendent K. 2. The events of 23 February 2004 15. The applicants indicated that on 23 February 2004, between 9.44 a.m. and 10.20 a.m. (as shown by the record of the second applicant’s