the credibility of the applicant's statement 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 the applicant's submissions of facts have been disputed by the Government. The Government provided the Court only with part of the investigation file materials to which they referred in their submissions. In the Court's view, the fact that over a period of several years the applicant's recollection of the event differed in rather insignificant details does not in itself suffice to cast doubt on the overall veracity of her statements.
71. 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).
72. Taking into account the above elements, the Court is satisfied that the applicant has made a prima facie case that her son had been detained by State servicemen. The Government's statement that the investigators had not found any evidence to support the involvement of State agents in the abduction is insufficient to discharge them from the above-mentioned burden of proof. Having examined the documents submitted by the parties, and drawing inferences from the Government's failure to submit the remaining documents which were in their exclusive possession or to provide another plausible explanation for the events in question, the Court finds that Aslan Sadulayev was arrested on 9 December 2002 by State servicemen during an unacknowledged security operation.
73. There has been no reliable news of Aslan Sadulayev since the date of the abduction. His name has not been found in any official detention facility records. Finally, the Government have not submitted any explanation as to what happened to him after his arrest.
74. Having regard to the previous cases concerning disappearances in Chechnya which have come before it (see, among others, Bazorkina, cited above; Imakayeva, cited above; Luluyev and Others v. Russia, No. 69480/01, ECHR 2006-... (extracts); Baysayeva v. Russia, No. 74237/01, 5 April 2007; Akhmadova and Sadulayeva, cited above; and Alikhadzhiyeva v. Russia, No. 68007/01, 5 July 2007), the Court finds that in the context of the conflict in the Republic, when a person is detained by unidentified servicemen without any subsequent acknowledgment of the detention, this can be regarded as life-threatening. The absence of Aslan Sadulayev and of any news of him for more than seven years supports this assumption.
75. Accordingly, the Court finds that the evidence available permits it to establish that Aslan Sadulayev must be presumed dead following his unacknowledged detention by State servicemen.
III. Alleged violation of Article 2 of the Convention
76. The applicant complained under Article 2 of the Convention that her son had been deprived of his life by Russian servicemen and that the domestic authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation of the matter. Article 2 reads:
"1. Everyone's right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law.
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