decision had been taken by the head of the distributing company Rospechat. He, the editor-in-chief, had had to sign a backdated order for withdrawal of the copies, and from a private conversation he had understood that the copies had been withdrawn because of the applicant's article, which had mentioned the names of certain politicians whom the editor-in-chief described as "untouchable". After that incident he "[had taken] the difficult decision to resign from the position of editor-in-chief of Vecherniy Magadan", because, in his words, "the newspaper was unable to enjoy freedom of speech and of the press," and he "did not want to deceive readers". It appears that soon afterwards the editor-in-chief left Vecherniy Magadan and started working as a journalist on a private newspaper.
13. In the following months the applicant tried to publish the article in several regional and central newspapers, but to no avail.
B. Criminal investigation
14. On an unspecified date in 2002 the applicant lodged a formal complaint with the regional prosecutor's office concerning the withdrawal of the copies. In his submission, the withdrawal amounted to unlawful interference with freedom of the press, a criminal offence under Article 144 of the Criminal Code.
15. On 22 January 2003 that complaint was transmitted to the Magadan town prosecutor's office. The case was assigned to an investigator, who questioned the head of Rospechat and the former editor-in-chief.
16. On 30 January 2003 the head of Rospechat testified before the investigator that the decision to withdraw the copies had been taken by the former editor-in-chief. On the following day the investigator questioned Mr Svistunov, the former editor-in-chief of the newspaper. Mr Svistunov confirmed that he had asked Rospechat to withdraw the copies of the newspaper. He explained that he had agreed to publish the article because it concerned an interesting subject and because the applicant had shown him documents which supported the facts described in the article. The editor-in-chief had thought that the article would arouse public interest and had decided to publish it. However, after fresh consideration, when the newspaper had already been printed and sent out for distribution, he had decided to withdraw it. He had realised that the editorial staff "would have problems" if the article was published. As to his letter of 11 November 2001, it had not been accurate, because at the time he had been upset over his own decision to resign from the post.
17. On 31 January 2003, after a preliminary inquiry, the investigator decided not to open a criminal investigation. The investigator found that the decision to withdraw the copies had been taken by the editor-in-chief himself without any coercion. The investigator noted, however, that the decision of the editor-in-chief to withdraw the copies had been motivated by the need to avoid lawsuits and litigation which might have followed the publication of the article, and to protect the editorial staff. The investigator concluded that no interference with freedom of the press had occurred.
18. The applicant challenged that decision before the court. On 7 April 2003 the Magadan Town Court examined the materials in the case file and heard evidence from the applicant and the former editor-in-chief; the latter testified that he had signed the order to withdraw the copies after they had already been withdrawn from sale. After examining the applicant's complaint, the Town Court decided to quash the decision of 31 January 2003. The court noted that by law the withdrawal of a print run could be ordered only by the judicial authorities. The Town Court also ordered certain additional investigative measures to be carried out by the investigating authorities.
19. On 23 April 2003 the Magadan town prosecutor ordered an additional inquiry. The case was
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