Published on 2 October 2023
FIFTH SECTION
Application no. 1027/19
Ivan Yuryevich MALETIN against Russia
and 31 other applications
(see list appended)
PROCEDURAL INFORMATION
Following a preliminary examination of the admissibility of the applications on 7 September 2023, the Court decided, under Rule 54 § 2 (b) of the Rules of Court, that notice of the applications should be given to the Government of Russia.
In the applications marked by an asterisk, other complaints were raised. This part of the applications has been struck out of the Court’s list of cases or declared inadmissible by the Court, sitting in a single-judge formation, assisted by a rapporteur as provided for in Article 24 § 2 of the Convention.
In the enclosed list of applications, whenever an applicant is referred to using initials, this indicates that the Court has authorised anonymity for that person, whose identity will not be disclosed to the public (Rule 47 § 4).
For further information on the procedure following communication of an application brought against Russia, subject of well-established case law of the Court, please refer to the Court’s website.
SUBJECT MATTER
The applications concern complaints raised under Article 11 of the Convention relating to disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies which are the subject of well-established case law of the Court (see Frumkin v. Russia, no. 74568/12, ECHR 2016 (extracts); Navalnyy and Yashin v. Russia, no. 76204/11, 4 December 2014; and Kasparov and Others v. Russia, no. 21613/07, 3 October 2013).
APPENDIX – STATEMENT OF FACTS
List of applications raising complaints under Article 11 of the Convention
(disproportionate measures against organisers and participants of public assemblies)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Name of the public event
Location
Date
Administrative charges
Penalty
Final domestic decision
Court Name
Date
Other complaints under well-established case-law
1027/19
14/12/2018
Ivan Yuryevich MALETIN
2001
Aleksey Vladimirovich Glukhov
Novocheboksarsk
Opposition rally/gathering
Cheboksary
05/05/2018
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
and
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
and
fine of RUB 10,000
Supreme Court of the Chuvashia Republic
06/09/2018
(two separate decisions)
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in both sets of administrative-offence proceedings,
Prot. 7 Art. 4 - right not to be tried or punished twice in criminal proceedings - the applicant was convicted in two separate sets of administrative proceedings (Art. 20.2 § 5 of CAO) for participation in a rally which was qualified by the domestic authorities as two separate events (a rally and a gathering).
1032/19
14/12/2018
Aleksandr Sergeyevich MIKHANKOV
1997
Aleksey Vladimirovich Glukhov
Novocheboksarsk
Opposition rally/gathering
Cheboksary
05/05/2018
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
and
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
and
article 19.3 § 1 of CAO
20 hours of community work
and
20 hours of community work
and
fine of RUB 1,000
Supreme Court of the Chuvash Republic
05/07/2018
(three separate decisions)
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in the three sets of the administrative-offence proceedings,
Prot. 7 Art. 4 - right not to be tried or punished twice in criminal proceedings - the applicant was convicted in two separate sets of administrative proceedings (Art. 20.2 § 5 of CAO) for participation in a rally which was qualified by the domestic authorities as two separate events (a rally and a gathering). He was also convicted in the third set of administrative proceeding (Art.19.3 §1 of CAO) for the facts which constituted the basis of the first two convictions.
45059/21*
09/08/2021
Lev Vsevolodovich LUKHOVITSKIY
1984
Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Karavayev
Nizhniy Novgorod
Rally “Free Navalnyy”
Moscow
02/02/2021
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
detention for 10 days
Moscow City Court
10/02/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
45062/21*
09/08/2021
Pavel Grigoryevich DOLGOV
1993
Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Karavayev
Nizhniy Novgorod
Rally “Free Navalnyy”
Moscow
02/02/2021
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
detention for 10 days
Moscow City Court
10/02/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
45064/21*
09/08/2021
Ilya Mikhaylovich GOLOVLEV
1998
Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Karavayev
Nizhniy Novgorod
Rally “Free Navalnyy”
Moscow
02/02/2021
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
detention for 10 days
Moscow City Court
10/02/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
45067/21*
09/08/2021
Grigoriy Denisovich MIKHAYLOV
2001
Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Karavayev
Nizhniy Novgorod
Rally “Free Navalnyy”
Moscow
02/02/2021
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
detention for 10 days
Moscow City Court
10/02/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
47070/21
12/09/2021
Yevgeniy Viktorovich STUPIN
1983
Rally “Free Navalnyy”
Moscow
23/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 20,000
Moscow City Court
27/05/2021
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
47523/21
05/09/2021
Petr Sersheyevich GRIGORYEV
1977
Konstantin Vladimirovich Bubon
Khabarovsk
Rally to support Furgal and Navalnyy
Khabarovsk
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Khabarovsk Regional Court
05/03/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 1.30 p.m. until 3.15 p.m. on 31/01/2021.
47817/21
10/09/2021
Ilya Genrikhovich SHKVARIN
1979
Nataliya Nikolayevna Chernova
Petrozavodsk
Rally “Free Navalnyy”
Petrozavodsk
23/01/2021
article 20.2 § 2 of CAO
detention for 2 days
Supreme Court of the Republic of Karelia
10/03/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 1.40 p.m. on 23/01/2021 until the hearing in the first-instance court on 24/01/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
48222/21*
19/08/2021
Gleb Vladimirovich ZVONOVSKIY
2002
Vladimir Vladimirovich Krasikov
Samara
Rally “Free Navalnyy”
Samara
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 15,000
Samara Regional Court
13/05/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
49373/21
16/09/2021
Agata Aleksandrovna MARAMBEY
1987
Andrey Gennadyevich Lepekhin
Chelyabinsk
Rally “Free Navalnyy”
Chelyabinsk
23/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 15,000
Chelyabinsk Regional Court
18/03/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station for compiling an offence report on 23/01/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.
50514/21*
27/09/2021
Ilya Vladimirovich KRYUCHKOV
2002
Mansur Idrisovich Gilmanov
Podolsk
Opposition rally
Moscow
04/11/2020
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
fine of RUB 20,000
Moscow City Court
20/04/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.25 p.m. until 9.00 p.m. on 04/11/2020,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
51061/21*
30/09/2021
Lidiya Borisovna OLSHANSKAYA
1936
Irina Vladimirovna Gak
Rostov-on-Don
Rally “Free Navalnyy”
Rostov-on-Don
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
fine of RUB 11,000
Rostov Regional Court
01/04/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 12.30 p.m. until 9.00 p.m. on 31/01/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based,
Art. 6 (1) - unfair criminal proceedings - various deficiencies of the administrative offence proceedings (no possibility to adduce evidence).
53901/21*
18/10/2021
Zhirayr Karoyevich KAROYAN
1991
Mansur Idrisovich Gilmanov
Podolsk
Opposition rally
Moscow
22/06/2020
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Moscow City Court
29/06/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 6.00 p.m. until 10.10 p.m. on 22/06/2020,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
54242/21*
20/10/2021
Mikael Valeryevich VARDANYAN
1995
Rally “Free Navalnyy”
St Petersburg
23/01/2021
article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
St Petersburg City Court
20/04/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.30 p.m. on 23/01/2021 until 2.00 p.m. on 24/01/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
55561/21
15/11/2021
Aleksandra Aleksandrovna SMIRNOVA
1998
Manifestation in support of Navalnyy
Moscow
02/02/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Moscow City Court
17/05/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 11.50 p.m. on 02/02/2021 until 6.59 a.m. on 03/02/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
57852/21*
03/11/2021
Aleksandr Valeryevich POYARKOV
1963
Mansur Idrisovich Gilmanov
Podolsk
Opposition rally
Moscow
22/06/2020
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Moscow City Court
29/06/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 6.10 p.m. until 10.30 p.m. on 22/06/2020,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
58960/21
12/11/2021
Ilya Antonovich STARIKOV
1994
Aleksey Vladimirovich Glukhov
Novocheboksarsk
Rally “Free Navalnyy”
Samara
23/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Samara Regional Court
20/05/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 3.50 p.m. until 8.00 p.m. on 23/01/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings.
59092/21*
21/10/2021
Murat Rubinovich MUKASHEV
2002
Mansur Idrisovich Gilmanov
Podolsk
Opposition rally
Moscow
22/06/2020
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 20,000
Moscow City Court
29/07/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 6.20 p.m. on 22/06/2020 until 2.00 a.m. on 23/06/2020,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
59268/21*
12/11/2021
Timofey Igorevich OREKHOV
1991
Mansur Idrisovich Gilmanov
Podolsk
Opposition rally
Moscow
22/06/2020
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 20,000
Moscow City Court
29/06/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 6.00 p.m. on 22/06/2020 until 12.30 a.m. on 23/06/2020,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
57/22
03/12/2021
Sergey Aleksandrovich YEREMIN
2000
Vladimir Vladimirovich Krasikov
Samara
Rally “Free Navalnyy”
Samara
23/01/2021
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Samara Regional Court
16/09/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 3.30 p.m. until 4.26 p.m. on 23/01/2021,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.
3982/22
03/01/2021
Darya Anatolyevna ARSENEVA
1989
Yevgeniy Vyacheslavovich Antokhin
Moscow
Rally “Free Navalnyy”
Moscow
31/01/2021
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Moscow City Court
13/08/2021
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to the police station on 31/01/2021 for compiling an offence report,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based,
Art. 6 (1) - unfair criminal proceedings - various deficiencies of the administrative offence proceedings (absence in the first-instance court).
35287/22*
02/07/2022
Valeriya Andreyevna ALEKSEYEVA
2000
Mariya Sergeyevna Zyryanova
St Petersburg
Protest against war in Ukraine
St Petersburg
24/02/2022
article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO
detention for 10 days
St Petersburg City Court
03/03/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 7.00 p.m. on 24/02/2022 until 26/02/2022.
35544/22*
01/07/2022
Pavel Nikolayevich GORBUSHIN
1988
Olesya Anatolyevna Vasilchenko
Minyar
Protest against war in Ukraine
St Petersburg
27/02/2022
article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO
detention for 6 days
St Petersburg City Court
04/03/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 8.00 p.m. on 27/02/2022 until 7.30 p.m. on 28/02/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements his conviction was based.
35790/22*
04/07/2022
Sergey Valentinovich TOKAREV
1965
Olga Vladimirovna Sirinova
St Petersburg
Protest against war in Ukraine
St Petersburg
06/03/2022
article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
St Petersburg City Court
19/04/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.10 p.m. on 06/03/2022 until 4.35 a.m. on 07/03/2022.
37335/22*
16/07/2022
Andrey Aleksandrovich DUZHIK
2000
Konstantin Aleksandrovich Markin
Velikiy Novgorod
Protest against war in Ukraine
Novgorod
06/03/2022
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
20 hours of community work
Novgorod Regional Court
04/04/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.20 p.m. until 8.30 p.m. on 06/03/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements his conviction was based.
39207/22*
27/07/2022
Alena Levonovna VALKO
1997
Olga Vladimirovna Sirinova
St Petersburg
Protest against war in Ukraine
St Petersburg
02/03/2022
article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO
detention for 7 days
St Petersburg City Court
29/03/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 8.10 p.m. until 11.00 p.m. on 02/03/2022.
39551/22*
30/07/2022
Alena Vasilyevna RYABCHIKOVA
2001
Sergey Viktorovich Podolskiy
St Petersburg
Protest against war in Ukraine
St Petersburg City Court
06/03/2022
article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO
detention for 10 days
St Petersburg City Court
31/03/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 5.10 p.m. on 06/03/2022 until 1.40 p.m. on 07/03/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements his conviction was based,
Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO.
39969/22*
04/08/2022
Yekaterina Stanislavovna VASILYEVA
1976
Sergey Viktorovich Podolskiy
St Petersburg
Protest against war in Ukraine
St Petersburg
26/03/2022
article 20.3.3 § 1 of CAO
fine of RUB 30,000
St Petersburg City Court
26/05/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 2.50 p.m. until 7.30 p.m. on 26/03/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements his conviction was based.
40194/22*
08/08/2022
Veronika Mikhaylovna KAMENTSEVA
1996
Olesya Anatolyevna Vasilchenko
Minyar
Protest against war in Ukraine
St Petersburg
27/02/2022
article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO
fine of RUB 12,000
St Petersburg City Court
12/04/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 4.15 p.m. on 27/02/2022 until 9.30 p.m. on 28/02/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements his conviction was based,
Art. 6 (1) - unfair criminal proceedings - various deficiencies of the administrative offence proceedings (lack of time and facilities to prepare the defence, absence in appeal).
42806/22*
19/08/2022
Aleksey Vladimirovich GIL
1989
Daniil Vadimovich Sorokin
St Petersburg
Protest against war in Ukraine
St Petersburg
27/02/2022
article 20.2.2 § 1 of CAO
detention for 3 days
St Petersburg City Court
19/04/2022
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - escorting to and detention at the police station for compiling an offence report from 8.10 p.m. on 27/02/2022 until 4.00 p.m. on 01/03/2022,
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings ,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based,
Prot. 7 Art. 2 - delayed review of conviction by a higher tribunal - the sentence of administrative detention imposed on the applicant was executed immediately, on account of the lack of suspensive effect of an appeal under the CAO.
43086/22*
20/08/2022
Yekaterina Andreyevna USOLKINA
1992
Yelena Yuryevna Pershakova
Moscow
Protest against war in Ukraine
Perm
24/02/2022
article 20.2 § 5 of CAO
fine of RUB 10,000
Perm Regional Court
21/04/2022
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings,
Art. 6 (1) - and Art. 6 (3) (d) - unfair trial in view of restrictions on the right to examine witnesses - inability to cross-examine in the trial police officers on whose written statements the conviction was based.