previous cases it has already found this explanation insufficient to justify the withholding of key information requested by the Court (see Imakayeva v. Russia, No. 7615/02, § 123, ECHR 2006-VIII (extracts)).
54. In view of this and bearing in mind the principles referred to above, the Court finds that it can draw inferences from the Government's conduct in respect of the well-foundedness of the applicant's allegations. The Court will thus proceed to examine crucial elements in the present case that should be taken into account when deciding whether the applicant's son can be presumed dead and whether his death can be attributed to the authorities.
55. The applicant alleged that the persons who had taken Vakhit Dzhabrailov away on 3 January 2003 and then killed him were State agents.
56. The Government suggested in their submissions that the abductors of Vakhit Dzhabrailov may have been members of paramilitary groups. However, this allegation was not specific and the Government did not submit any material to support it. The Court would stress in this regard that the evaluation of the evidence and the establishment of the facts is a matter for the Court, and it is incumbent on it to decide on the evidentiary value of the documents submitted to it (see {Celikbilek} v. Turkey, No. 27693/95, § 71, 31 May 2005).
57. The Court notes that the applicant's allegation is supported by the witness statements collected by the applicant and by the investigation. It finds that the fact that a large group of armed men in uniform during curfew hours, in the area fully controlled by the authorities, was able to move freely in the area and proceeded to check identity documents and take the applicant's son away from his home strongly supports the applicant's allegation that these were State servicemen conducting a security operation. In her application to the authorities the applicant alleged that Vakhit Dzhabrailov had been detained by unknown servicemen and requested the investigation to look into that possibility (see paragraph 26 above). The domestic investigation also accepted factual assumptions as presented by the applicant, and took steps to check whether federal servicemen were involved in the kidnapping (see paragraph 28 above), but it does not appear that any serious steps were taken in that direction.
58. The Government questioned the credibility of the applicant's statements in view of certain discrepancies relating to the exact circumstances of the arrests and the description of the hours immediately following the detention. The Court notes in this respect that no other elements underlying her submissions of facts have been disputed by the Government and that the latter did not furnish the Court with the witness statements to which they referred in their submissions. In the Court's view, the absence of anything to substantiate the Government's position in this respect and the fact that the Government did not dispute the underlying account of the abduction, those alleged inconsistencies do not in themselves suffice to cast doubt on the overall veracity of the applicant's statements.
59. The Court observes that where the applicant makes out a prima facie case and the Court is prevented from reaching factual conclusions owing to a lack of relevant documents, it is for the Government to argue conclusively why the documents in question cannot serve to corroborate the allegations made by the applicant, or to provide a satisfactory and convincing explanation of how the events in question occurred. The burden of proof is thus shifted to the Government and if they fail in their arguments, issues will arise under Article 2 and/or Article 3 (see {Togcu} v. Turkey, No. 27601/95, § 95, 31 May 2005, and Akkum and Others v. Turkey, No. 21894/93, § 211, ECHR 2005-II).
60. Taking into account the above elements, the Court is satis
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