4.  The applicants were born in 1979 and 1973 respectively and were serving prison sentences at Nazilli Prison at the time of their applications to the Court. 5.  On 23 February 1999 the applicants were arrested and taken into custody by police officers from the Anti-terror branch of the Kuşadası Security Directorate. They were interrogated on 24 and 25 February 1999 respectively. 6.  On 26 February 1999 the applicants were brought before the public prosecutor in Izmir. They were informed of their rights and in particular their right to be assisted by a lawyer, which they waived. The applicants confessed to having committed the offence of which they were accused, namely throwing Molotov cocktails at buildings. They claimed they had acted alone, that they were not involved in any illegal organisation and that they regretted their actions. 7.  On the same day, the applicants were brought before the Kuşadası Magistrates’ Court where they reiterated their statements given to the public prosecutor. Mr Sancı acknowledged in part the statements he had given to the police. He alleged in this connection that he had been subjected to ill‑treatment in police custody. Mr Aslan acknowledged the contents of his statements made to the police. However, he claimed that he had signed without reading them. The court remanded both applicants in custody. 8.  On 15 March 1999 the public prosecutor at the Izmir State Security Court filed a bill of indictment with that court accusing the applicants of having thrown Molotov cocktails at the buildings of the Ülkü Ocakları Association, Ziraat Bank, Halk Bank and Yaşar Bank in Kuşadası on 22 February 1999. He requested that they be convicted and sentenced under Articles 169 and 264 of the Criminal Code and Article 5 of Law no. 3713. 9.  The first hearing, held before the Izmir State Security Court on 10 March 1999 in the applicants’ absence, was taken up with procedural matters such as the measures to be taken for securing the presence of the accused. 10.  Between 15 April 1999 and 15 July 1999 the court held three hearings during which it heard the applicants, who claimed that they had made their statements in police custody under duress. The court also took various procedural acts. 11.  At a hearing held on 15 July 1999 the court noted that the testimony of the witness Mr I.E., taken by proxy, had been submitted to it. The applicants asked the court not to take the testimony into account. They further requested that a further on-site inspection be conducted in order to find out whether the offence had been committed at night time. Finally, they asked the court to hear the bank clerks as witnesses. On the same day, the court, finding that the evidence contained in the case file sufficiently elucidated the events, dismissed the applicants’ requests. The prosecutor read out his observations on the merits of the case against the applicants. The next hearing was held on 2 September 1999. 12.  At the hearing held on 14 October 1999 the military judge sitting on the bench of the Izmir State Security Court was replaced by a civilian judge. The court heard the applicants’ final submissions on the merits of the case. On the same day, the Izmir State Security Court convicted the applicants as charged and sentenced them in respect of the offences to terms of imprisonment of three years, fifty-five months and twenty days. In its decision, the court took into account the fact that the incident reports drawn up after the events corresponded to the applicants’ submissions to the Magistrates’ Court. The court further stated that it had not been convinced by the applicants’ denials, having regard to the evidence contained in the case file (i.e.  Mr.I.E’s testimony, photographs of the events, expert reports, incident reports and the reports drawn up following a re‑construction of events) and the applicants’ submissions to the public prosecutor and the Magistrates’ Court. 13.  On 24 February 2000 the Court of Cassation upheld the judgment of the Izmir State Security Court.