4.  The applicants were born in 1951, 1961 and 1956 respectively and live in Kiskunhalas. 5.  On 1 February 1995 the applicants were charged with soliciting prostitution (üzletszerű kéjelgés elősegítése). The prosecution authorities asserted that the applicants, acting as a criminal gang, had been involved in running a brothel with minors working there as prostitutes. 6.  Having held seven hearings, the Kiskunhalas District Court found the applicants guilty as charged on 21 November 1997. They appealed. On 18 June 1998 the Bács-Kiskun County Regional Court quashed the first-instance judgment and remitted the case to the District Court. 7.  In the resumed proceedings, the District Court held three hearings and acquitted the applicants on 12 April 2005. The prosecution appealed. 8.  On 20 October 2005 the Regional Court upheld the applicants’ acquittal on the ground of lack of evidence. It noted that during the proceedings relevant evidence, in particular an audio tape recorded by a journalist investigating the matter, had been lost and that some key witnesses for the prosecution had withdrawn their testimonies before a Romanian notary public. However, it did not investigate the circumstances of these events.