ever, they denied that those men were State agents. It notes that the second applicant was an eyewitness to the events and that her account had been confirmed by statements of ten other residents of Stariye Atagi questioned in the course of the investigation. They all stated, in particular, that they had seen a group of armed men arrive at the village in two APCs and two Ural vehicles. The Court thus considers that the applicants have presented a coherent and convincing picture of their son's abduction on 10 April 2004.
52. The Court further notes that, according to the applicants and other witnesses to the events, not only had Mr Anzor Sambiyev's abductors been armed and dressed in camouflage uniform, but they had arrived in two Ural vehicles and two APCs, which could not have been available to paramilitary groups. This fact strongly supports the applicants' allegation that they were State servicemen. In their application to the authorities the applicants consistently maintained that Mr Anzor Sambiyev had been detained by unknown servicemen and requested the investigating authorities to look into that possibility. It notes in addition that after four years the domestic investigation has produced no tangible results.
53. The Court further observes that, although the Government refused to provide a copy of the entire investigation file, they submitted a significant part of the case file containing key elements that considerably facilitated the examination of the present case by the Court. Thus, from the materials available it can be established that, although the investigation has not rendered any conclusive results, the applicants' account of the events as supported by witness statements was largely accepted by the investigating authorities. In particular, on 15 July 2004 the Grozny District Prosecutor's Office issued the applicants with a certificate stating that on 10 April 2004 a group of persons wearing camouflage and masks armed with automatic weapons and accompanied by two APCs and two "Ural" vehicles abducted Mr Anzor Sambiyev. However, the investigating authorities failed to establish the identity of Mr Anzor Sambiyev's abductors. In the Court's view, the information obtained by the investigation to the effect that no special operations had been conducted in Stariye Atagi on the dates in question is not sufficient to refute the allegations that these were servicemen. The supposition that, being a member of an illegal armed group, he could have been abducted by other members or by unrelated persons, is likewise too vague to disprove them.
54. Accordingly, on the basis of the body of evidence submitted by the parties, the Court finds that on 10 April 2004 Mr Anzor Sambiyev was apprehended by servicemen at his house in Stariye Atagi.
55. The Court further notes that in the morning of 11 April 2004 his dead body, with bullet wounds, was found on the edge of the Grozny-Shatoy road. Taking into account that no information has been submitted by the Government concerning Mr Anzor Sambiyev's possible release or escape following his apprehension by servicemen in the evening of 10 April 2004 and no other explanation has been provided as to his subsequent death, and having regard to the general principles cited in paragraph 47 above, the Court finds that Mr Anzor Sambiyev was killed by State servicemen between 10 and 11 April 2004.
56. Accordingly, the Court finds that the evidence available permits it to establish to the requisite standard of proof that on 10 April 2004 Mr Anzor Sambiyev was apprehended by State servicemen and that he was killed by them between 10 and 11 April 2004.
iii. The State's compliance with Article 2
57. Article 2, which safeguards the right to life and sets out the circumstances when deprivation of life may be justified, ranks as one of the most fundamental provisions in the Convention, to w
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