examination of independent witnesses, and that further investigations should therefore be carried out. 28. The RMPO took statements from a bus driver and a bus station employee on 29 and 30 July 1993 respectively. The driver stated that he had seen a Roma man hit his son with a lath. When the police car arrived, the father had thrown himself at the police officers and started fighting. The driver had taken the father’s arm to prevent him hitting the officers. He had not seen any of the officers hitting the boy. The other witness had a vague recollection of events and could not say whether or not the father had hit his son or the policemen had beaten them. 29. These additional investigations apparently did not conclude with the delivery of a formal decision. Their results were not communicated to the applicants. 7. Appeal to Chief General Prosecutor 30. On 20 June 1994 the applicants appealed to the Chief General Prosecutor of Bulgaria. They again set out their version of events, adding that Mr Assenov’s beating had been accompanied by insults referring to the applicants’ Roma origin and pointing out that there had been a number of witnesses to the incident but that no effort had been made to take evidence from any of them. They argued that there was a contradiction between the finding of the RMPO that no physical force had been used and the conclusion of the GMPO, which established that there had been use of physical force, but that it had been legal, and they alleged violations of Articles 3, 6 and 14 of the Convention. 31. This appeal was apparently transferred to the GMPO, which wrote to the applicants’ lawyer on 28 June 1994 stating that there were no grounds to overturn the previous decision. B. Mr Assenov’s arrest on 27 July 1995 and subsequent detention 1. Arrest, detention and investigation 32. In January 1995, Mr Assenov was questioned by the Shoumen prosecuting authorities in connection with an investigation into a series of thefts and robberies. 33. He was arrested on 27 July 1995 and the following day, in the presence of his lawyer and a prosecutor (“K.”), he was questioned by an investigator and formally charged with ten or more burglaries, allegedly committed between 9 January and 2 May 1995, and six robberies committed between 10 September 1994 and 24 July 1995, all involving attacks on passers-by on the street. Mr Assenov admitted most of the burglaries but denied having committed the robberies. The decision was taken to detain him on remand. This decision was approved the same day by another prosecutor, “A.” (see paragraph 69 below).