are restricted to an extent that is incompatible with the requirements of Article 6 if the conviction is based solely, or to a decisive extent, on the depositions of a witness whom the accused has had no opportunity to examine or to have examined either during the investigation or at trial (see Delta v. France, judgment of 19 December 1990, § 37, Series A No. 191-A, and {Isgro} v. Italy, judgment of 19 February 1991, § 35, Series A No. 194-A).
33. Article 6 does not grant the accused an unlimited right to secure the appearance of witnesses in court and it is normally for the national courts to decide whether it is necessary or advisable to hear a witness (see, among many other authorities, Bricmont v. Belgium, judgment of 7 July 1989, § 89, Series A No. 158).
2. Application of those principles in the present case
34. In the present case the Court reiterates that the applicant maintained that he had not had a fair trial and, under Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (d) of the Convention, he referred in particular to the fact that he had been unable to examine officers S. and A.
35. Since the requirements of paragraph 3 (d) of Article 6 represent specific aspects of the right to a fair trial set forth in paragraph 1, the Court will examine the applicant's complaint under the two provisions taken together (see Asch v. Austria, judgment of 26 April 1991, § 25, Series A No. 203).
36. The Government argued that the national authorities had taken reasonable measures to enable the applicant to examine or have examined officers S. and A. Indeed, after their initial failure to attend the trial, the trial court ordered an adjournment to secure their presence at the next hearing. However, in the Government's submission, the officers were not available for questioning at the relevant time despite the efforts made by the authorities.
37. The Court will first determine whether the applicant validly waived his right under Article 6 § 3 (d) of the Convention. The Court reiterates in that connection that neither the letter nor the spirit of Article 6 of the Convention prevents a person from waiving of his or her own free will, either expressly or tacitly, entitlement to the guarantees of this provision (see Hermi v. Italy [GC], No. 18114/02, § 73, ECHR 2006-XII). However, such a waiver must, if it is to be effective for Convention purposes, be established in an unequivocal manner, be attended by minimum safeguards commensurate with its importance, and should not run counter to any important public interest (ibid). Moreover, before an accused can be said to have implicitly, through his conduct, waived an important right under Article 6, it must be shown that he could reasonably have foreseen what the consequences of his conduct would be (see Panovits v. Cyprus, No. 4268/04, § 68, 11 December 2008).
38. Turning to the circumstances of the case, the Court observes that under the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure, the reading out of pre-trial statements made by a victim or witness was allowable if the victim or witness did not appear before the trial court, provided that the parties consented to the reading out. The trial record clearly states that the applicant consented to the reading out of the officers' statements. There is no reason to doubt the authenticity of the record.
39. The Court also notes that there was no allegation that the applicant had been compelled to refuse legal assistance at the trial or that he had otherwise been prevented from taking informed decisions in the course of the trial. Nor did the Court detect any shortcomings in the legal representation by counsel. While not being directly concerned with the question of the applicant's waiver of the right to legal assistance, the Court considers on the basis of the available materials that the applicant voluntarily and unequivocally chose to defend himself at the trial. M
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