9 October 2000 and 20 February 2001 had not been examined by the District Court. The Government also pointed out that the applicants had failed to lodge requests for release pending trial during the hearing of their criminal case on 11 October 2000 and the hearings conducted from 20 February 2001 to 2 March 2001.
71. The Court considers that if a person alleging a violation of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention on account of the length of his detention in circumstances as those prevailing in the present case, he complains of a continuing situation, which should be considered as a whole and not divided into separate periods (see, mutatis mutandis, Solmaz v. Turkey, No. 27561/02, §§ 29 and 37, ECHR 2007-...). The Court observes that following their arrest on 14 January 2000 the applicants continuously remained in custody until their release on 2 March 2001. It is not disputed that they did not lodge appeals against the orders extending their detention on remand during the investigation and the court order of 8 August 2000 extending it for the duration of the trial. However, on the first day of the trial - that is, on 11 October 2000 - the applicants lodged a request for release (see paragraph 15 above). Neither this request nor any other subsequent requests for release were examined by the trial court as the proceedings were adjourned for an expert assessment. By lodging a number of requests for release from 11 October 2000 to 20 February 2001 the applicants made the court sufficiently aware of their situation and gave it an opportunity to consider whether their detention was compatible with their Convention right to a trial within a reasonable time or release pending trial. The Government did not show what other remedies the applicants could have used in their situation to request a change in the preventive measure applied to them after the commencement of their trial. The Court therefore finds that this complaint cannot be rejected for failure to exhaust domestic remedies. In these circumstances the Government's objection of non-exhaustion of domestic remedies must be dismissed.
72. The Court notes this complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention. It further notes that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible.
(b) Merits
1. Arguments by the parties
73. The Government submitted that the period of the applicants' detention on remand was not unreasonable, it was in accordance with the national legislation and its duration of 13 months and 17 days was not excessive. They pointed out that under the domestic legislation at the material time, no time-limits were envisaged for detention pending trial. The Government further contended that the applicants' detention on remand had been justified by the gravity of the charges against them and by the concern that, being a police officer and a former police officer, they could have obstructed the course of justice or absconded from the authorities.
74. The applicants submitted that the criminal case against them was not complex and that it had been unnecessary to keep them in detention for an extensive period of time, as there was no indication that they were trying to obstruct the course of justice, abscond or influence the witnesses. They further contended that the authorities' references to the gravity of the charges against them and the need to conduct additional investigative measures had not provided sufficient reasons to justify their detention. In particular, they pointed out that the court's decision of 8 August 2000 had failed to provide sufficient individual details for the extension of their detention.
2. The Court's assessment
75. The Court reiterates that the persistence of reasonable suspicion that the person arrested has committed an offence is a condition sine qua non for th
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