CAT/C/34/D/171/2000 Page 8 criminal offences until prior completion of the respective criminal proceedings. Even if the complainant had attempted to avail of this recourse, he would have been prevented from pursuing it, as under articles 186 and 106 of the Civil Procedure Code he would have to identify the name of the respondent. Since the complainant to date remains unaware of the name of the officer against whom he is claiming violations of his rights the institution of a civil action would have been impossible. The State party’s submission on admissibility and merits and the complainant’s comments thereon: 4.1 On 14 January 2003, the State party provided its submission on the admissibility and merits of the complaint. It contests the complainant’s allegations and submits that police officers of the Secretariat of Internal Affairs in Novi Sad attempted three times to deliver a request for an interview to the complainant to discuss the contents of his complaint. As the complainant was never at home at the time of delivery, these requests were delivered to the complainant’s wife. The complainant failed to contact the Secretariat of Internal Affairs. 4.2 The State party submits that the Municipal State Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad received a report from the Secretariat of Internal Affairs of Novi Sad, on 2 October 1997, which confirmed that after checking its files, it was established that the complainant had not been brought to nor detained in any of its premises. The Secretariat of Internal Affairs provided the same information on 4 February 1999, at the request of the Municipal State Prosecutor’s Office of 23 December 1998. 4.3 Finally, the State party submits that the complainant and two other persons had perpetrated 38 offences in the Czech Republic, for which they were sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. The Municipal Court of Novi Sad ordered that the complainant’s name be placed on a list of wanted persons, to serve prison sentence No.

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