80. As regards the period between 2001 and 2006, again relying on the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, the Respondent explains that even the slowdown of investigations which could have been caused (but not proven) by the five (5) year suspension of adversarial procedure between of Marcel Kafando and Racine Yameogo cannot be blamed on the State, given that "it has been deemed on several occasions that the State cannot be blamed for prolongation of the duration of the proceedings for reasons of the illness of a suspect". 81. On the determination of the period of reasonable time, the Respondent is of the view that the dies a quo should be the day when Marcel Kafando was arrested (2 February 2001) and the dies ad quiem the day on which the ruling became final, as no appeal was logged with the "Cour de Cassation" (31 August 2006), that is, five years, six months and 29 days. 82. The Respondent concludes that "in view of the complex nature of the matter and the comportment ofthe Applicants and their advocates, as stated earlier, one could conclude that the duration of the investigation was normal, thanks to the effectiveness of the Investigating Magistrate and the substantial contribution made by the political and administrative authorities of Burkina Faso" and that "the said duration meets the requirements of reasonable time as set out in community and international instruments, violations of which are being wrongly attributed to Burkina Faso". 83. In their submission, the Applicants recall that the judicial remedies they had resorted to lasted 9 years and would have again been prolonged for five more years if the "Cour de Cassation" had been seized. 84. They explain that" ... in the instant case, it is probable that given the bad faith on the part of the political authorities, this delay could have been prolonged at will". They assert that "article 56(5) of the Charter provides that an Applicant before the Court was not bound to exhaust local remedies where the judicial process is unduly prolonged" (sic). 85. In their reply to the preliminary objections, the Applicants noted that in this matter "they had to wait. ..for close to two years for the brother of the President of Faso, who seems to be at the centre of this case of murder of the journalist and his companions, to 27