;s credibility. In the Court's view, the prosecution inquiry applied different standards when assessing the testimonies, as those given by the applicant and Ms S. were deemed to be subjective but not those given by the police officers. The credibility of the latter testimonies should also have been questioned, as the prosecution investigation was supposed to establish whether the officers were liable on the basis of disciplinary or criminal charges (see Ognyanova and Choban v. Bulgaria, No. 46317/99, § 99, 23 February 2006).
73. The Court further observes that in 2007, after the criminal proceedings had been opened, the investigator questioned two individuals who had been detained with the applicant at the Rudnichniy police station in March 2003. The excerpts from their testimonies were included in the decision of 18 May 2007. Those individuals did not witness the beatings, did not remember the applicant and merely attested that they had not heard any complaints of police brutality (see paragraph 24 above). The Court firstly finds it inexplicable that it was not until January 2007, almost four years after the events under consideration, that the investigators attempted for the first time to collect statements from possible eyewitnesses. In this connection, the Court notes that while the investigating authorities may not have been provided with the names of individuals who could have seen the applicant at the police station or might have witnessed his alleged beatings, they were expected to take steps of their own initiative to identify possible eyewitnesses. The Court also observes that, due to the protraction of the investigation, the individuals in question could no longer recall the details of their detention at the Rudnichniy police station or provide the authorities with any valuable information.
74. Furthermore, it appears that the investigators took no meaningful steps to search the premises where the applicant had allegedly been ill-treated. The Court therefore finds that the investigating authorities' failure to look for corroborating evidence and their deferential attitude to the police officers must be considered to be a particularly serious shortcoming in the investigation (see {Aydin} v. Turkey, 25 September 1997, § 106, Reports 1997-VI).
75. Having regard to the above failings of the Russian authorities, the Court finds that the investigation carried out into the applicant's allegations of ill-treatment was not thorough, expeditious or effective. The Court recognises that the investigation is still pending but, considering its length so far and the very serious shortcomings identified above, the Court does not consider that the applicant should have waited for completion of the investigation before bringing his complaint to the Court (see Angelova and Iliev, cited above, § 103, and Mikheyev, cited above, § 121). Furthermore the Court does not lose sight of the fact that the applicant lodged his application before the Court on 2 March 2004, that is after the authorities had closed the investigation into his ill-treatment complaints. The Court is mindful of the fact that the investigation was re-opened only in January 2007. Accordingly, the Court dismisses the Government's objection as to non-exhaustion of domestic remedies, in so far as it concerns the applicant's failure to await the outcome of the domestic criminal proceedings.
76. Furthermore, in the light of the finding that the reaction of the Russian authorities to the applicant's ill-treatment complaints was not adequate and effective and, particularly, taking into account that the criminal proceedings against the police officers were opened almost four years after the alleged events, that the proceedings are still pending and that the investigation has not yet resulted in any finding of guilt, the Court has strong doubts that the applicant would have had a realistic opportunity of applyi
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