4 KERIMOVA v. AZERBAIJAN JUDGMENT 18. Subsequently, it was decreed to hold repeat elections in all constituencies in which the election results had been invalidated. There were a total of ten such constituencies. It appears that, owing to certain opposition forces' decision to boycott the repeat elections, the applicant did not stand for election in the repeat elections held on 13 May 2006. C. Other judicial proceedings relevant to the case 19. In the meantime, criminal proceedings were instituted against the ConEC chairman and the chairman of the PEC of Polling Station no. 17, for tampering with the official PEC protocols of a total of nine different polling stations (Polling Stations nos. 1, 5, 8, 11, 17, 19, 20, 21 and 24). 20. On 19 January 2006 the Sumgayit City Court convicted both the defendants under Articles 161.1 (falsification of election documents) and 308.1 (abuse of official power) of the Criminal Code. The first defendant was fined in the amount of 110 new Azerbaijani manats (approximately 100 euros) and was banned from holding office in the electoral administration. The second defendant was sentenced to one year and twenty-eight days' corrective labour, with 15% of his earnings to be withheld in favour of the State. 21. The factual findings in the Sumgayit City Court's judgment, based on the defendant's own confessions and several witness statements, revealed that the majority of falsifications in the PEC protocols had been made at the ConEC level by its chairman, after the submission of the protocols to the ConEC. These falsifications were made in favour of either H. or other candidates, but not the applicant. 22. In particular, during the hearings, the first defendant, the ConEC chairman, confessed that he had tampered with the PEC protocols for eight polling stations. In particular, he altered the figures representing the total vote count of various candidates in each polling station by inserting additional numbers or changing the existing numbers. In this manner, he increased the number of votes for at least five candidates other than the applicant (including H., to whose vote count he added 100 more “votes”), and reduced the number of votes received by the applicant (by 100 “votes”). 23. The second defendant, the PEC chairman, confessed to having tampered with the PEC protocol for his polling station in a similar manner, with the aim of increasing the total vote counts of three candidates who were the applicant's opponents.