GIULIANI AND GAGGIO v. ITALY JUDGMENT 17 between M.P.'s actions and Carlo Giuliani's death. Given that the link remained, the question was whether M.P. had acted in self-defence. 74. It had been proven that the physical integrity of the jeep's occupants had been under threat and that M.P. had been “responding” in the face of danger. That response had to be examined in terms of both its necessity and its proportionality, “the latter aspect being the more delicate”. 75. The public prosecutor took the view that M.P. had had no other option and could not have been expected to act differently, since “the jeep was surrounded by demonstrators [and] the physical aggression against the occupants was patent and virulent”. M.P. had been justified in perceiving his life to be in danger. The pistol had been a tool capable of putting a stop to the attack, and M.P. could not be criticised for the equipment issued to him. He could not be expected to refrain from using his weapon and submit to an attack liable to endanger his physical integrity. These considerations justified a decision to discontinue the case. 2. The applicants' objection 76. On 10 December 2002 the applicants lodged an objection against the public prosecutor's request to discontinue the proceedings. They alleged that, since the prosecuting authorities themselves had acknowledged that the investigation had been flawed and raised questions which had not been answered with certainty, adversarial proceedings were essential in order to arrive at the truth. In their view, it was impossible to argue simultaneously that M.P. had fired into the air and that he had acted in self-defence, particularly since he had said that he could not see Carlo Giuliani when he had fired the shots. 77. The applicants further remarked that the intermediate object theory, which they disputed, had been put forward one year after the events and was based on pure supposition not backed up by objective evidence. There were other possible explanations. 78. The applicants also observed that, according to the evidence in the file, Carlo Giuliani had still been alive after the jeep had driven over his body. They stressed that the autopsy report, which found that no appreciable injuries had been caused by the jeep driving over the body, had been described by the public prosecutor as superficial; they also criticised the decision to entrust a number of investigative measures to the carabinieri. 79. It followed that M.P. and F.C. should have been committed for trial. In the alternative, the applicants requested that further investigative measures be undertaken, in particular: (a) that a forensic report be prepared aimed at establishing the causes and the time of Carlo Giuliani's death, in order to ascertain in particular whether he had still been alive when the jeep drove over his body, and afterwards;