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A. The parties' submissions
68. The Government contended that the complaint should be declared inadmissible for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. They submitted that the investigation into the disappearance of Sarali Seriyev had not yet been completed.
69. The applicants contested that objection. They stated that the only effective remedy in respect of their complaints concerning Sarali Seriyev's abduction was a criminal investigation which had proved to be ineffective.
B. The Court's assessment
70. The Court will examine the arguments of the parties in the light of the provisions of the Convention and its relevant practice (for a relevant summary, see Estamirov and Others v. Russia, No. 60272/00, §§ 73 - 74, 12 October 2006).
71. As regards criminal law remedies, the Court observes that the applicants complained to the law enforcement authorities immediately after the abduction of Sarali Seriyev and that an investigation has been pending since 2 July 2004. The applicants and the Government dispute the effectiveness of the investigation of the kidnapping.
72. The Court considers that the Government's objection raises issues concerning the effectiveness of the investigation, which are closely linked to the merits of the applicants' complaints. Thus, it decides to join this objection to the merits of the case and considers that the issue falls to be examined below.
II. The Court's assessment of the evidence
and the establishment of the facts in respect
of the abduction
A. The parties' arguments
73. The applicants maintained that it was beyond reasonable doubt that the men who had abducted Sarali Seriyev were State agents. In support of their complaint they referred to the following facts. At the material time Belgatoy had been under the total control of federal troops. There had been Russian military checkpoints on the roads leading to and from the settlement. Most of the armed men who had abducted Sarali Seriyev had spoken Russian without accent, which proved that they were not of Chechen origin and belonged to the federal forces. The men, who were armed and wearing specific camouflage uniforms, had arrived in a convoy of several vehicles during the daytime, which demonstrated that they had been allowed to drive around and pass through the checkpoints. The abductors were a large group and they acted in a manner similar to that of special forces carrying out identity checks. The applicants further submitted that since Sarali Seriyev had been missing for a very long time he could be presumed dead. That presumption was further supported by the circumstances in which he had been arrested, which should be recognised as life-threatening. Finally, the applicants contended that the Government had failed to provide a satisfactory explanation of the circumstances under which their relative had disappeared.
74. The Government submitted that unidentified armed men had kidnapped Sarali Seriyev. They further contended that the investigation of the incident was pending, that there was no evidence that the men were State agents and that there were therefore no grounds for holding the State liable for the alleged violations of the applicants' rights. They further argued that there was no convincing evidence that the applicants' relative was dead. The Government raised an objection to the applicants' presentation of facts alleging that the applicants' description of the circumstances surrounding the abduction was inconsistent. In particular, they referred to inconsistencies in the applicants' statements provided to the investigation and to the Court in respect of the precise sequence of events during the abduction and the first applicant's submission to the Court concerning his attempts t
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