Mr Anton Assenov was born in 1978, and his parents, Mrs Fidanka Ivanova and Mr Stefan Ivanov, were born in 1956 and 1952 respectively. A. Events of and following 19 September 1992 1. Arrest and detention 8. On 19 September 1992, while gambling in the market square in Shoumen, Mr Assenov (then aged 14) was arrested by an off-duty policeman and taken to the nearby bus station, where the officer called for back-up. 9. Subsequently Mr Assenov’s parents, who were both working at the bus station, came and asked for their son’s release. Mr Ivanov, as a way of showing that he would administer any necessary punishment, took a strip of plywood and hit his son. At some point two other policemen arrived. The applicants allege that these officers hit the boy with truncheons. A dispute ensued between the boy’s parents and the police, although it appears that Mr Assenov himself was unaggressive and compliant. He and his father were handcuffed and forced into a police car. They were taken to the police station, where they were detained for approximately two hours before being released without charge. Mr Assenov alleged to have been beaten with a toy pistol and with truncheons and pummelled in the stomach by officers at the police station. 2. Medical evidence 10. On 21 September 1992, the first working day following the incident, the applicants visited a forensic medical expert. They explained to him that Mr Assenov had been beaten by three policemen with a truncheon and with the handle of a pistol and that his mother had been beaten with a truncheon. The doctor examined the two applicants and issued medical certificates. 11. The certificate concerning the first applicant stated that the boy had a band-like haematoma about 5 cm long and 1 cm wide on the upper outer side of his right arm; three band-like haematomae, each about 6 cm long and 1 cm wide, on the right side of his chest; another bruise about 4 cm long on the left scapula; a haematoma 2 cm in diameter on the back of the head; and five grazes each about 5 cm long on the right chest. The certificate concerning Mrs Ivanova stated that she had a bruise about 5 cm long on her left thigh. The doctor concluded that the bruises could have been inflicted as described by the applicants. 3. Investigation by District Directorate of Internal Affairs 12. On 2 October 1992, Mrs Ivanova filed a complaint with the District Directorate of Internal Affairs (“the DDIA”), alleging that her son had been beaten at the bus and police stations, and requesting the prosecution of the officers responsible (see paragraph 58 below).