iming that they had at their disposal various means to make his life in prison unbearable, such as depriving him of the possibility to work. The applicant's general vulnerability as a prisoner had been further aggravated by the fact that at the material time he had not had a representative before the Court; he had retained lawyers of the EHRAC to represent him only 10 months after his conversation with Captain G. Moreover, during their conversation the latter unequivocally refused his requests for the presence of a lawyer. Lastly, with reference to the events of March 2004 and July 2005, the applicant submitted that he had been a victim of intimidation by the authorities.
B. The Court's assessment
150. The Court reiterates that it is of the utmost importance for the effective operation of the system of individual petition instituted by Article 34 that applicants or potential applicants should be able to communicate freely with the Court without being subjected to any form of pressure from the authorities to withdraw or modify their complaints (see, among other authorities, Akdivar and Others v. Turkey, 16 September 1996, § 105, Reports 1996-IV, and Aksoy v. Turkey, 18 December 1996, § 105, Reports 1996-VI).
151. The expression "any form of pressure" must be taken to cover not only direct coercion and flagrant acts of intimidation of applicants or their legal representatives but also other improper indirect acts or contacts designed to dissuade or discourage them from pursuing a Convention remedy or having a "chilling effect" on the exercise of the right of individual petition by applicants and their representatives (see Mechenkov v. Russia, No. 35421/05, § 116, 7 February 2008, with further references).
152. Furthermore, whether or not contacts between the authorities and an applicant are tantamount to unacceptable practices from the standpoint of Article 34 must be determined in the light of the particular circumstances of the case. In this respect, regard must be had to the vulnerability of the complainant and his or her susceptibility to influence exerted by the authorities (see Akdivar and Others, cited above, § 105, and Kurt v. Turkey, 25 May 1998, § 160, Reports 1998-III). The applicant's position might be particularly vulnerable when he is held in custody with limited contacts with his family or the outside world (see {Cotlet} v. Romania, No. 38565/97, § 71, 3 June 2003).
153. Turning to the circumstances of the case, the Court finds, this being not contested by the parties, that on 6 January 2004 an officer of the FSES had a conversation with the applicant about the latter's application to the Court.
154. According to the applicant, during the conversation G. pressured him to compile a statement which would contradict his previous submissions to the Court on one of the complaints submitted to it and threatened him with reprisals when he refused to do so. In this connection the Court notes that shortly after the conversation the applicant brought that fact to its attention through his brother (see paragraph 71 above). Subsequently, after the Court had given notice of the above events to the Government, the applicant reiterated his submissions, providing full details of his conversation with Captain G. (see paragraph 76 above). His description was complemented and confirmed by a written statement of Ch.M., who had visited the applicant in the colony (see paragraph 82 above). In sum, the applicant not only informed the Court about the conversation promptly, but also adduced several elements to support his submissions, remaining consistent in his account of the events.
155. The Government denied that any pressure had been put on the applicant during his conversation with Captain G. and claimed that it had been aimed at obtaining information on his complaints with a view to, in particular, preparing the Government
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