4.  The applicants were born in 1975 and 1963 respectively and live in İzmir. They were members of the executive board of the Izmir Branch of the Human Rights Association (“the Association”) at the time of lodging their applications to the Court. The applications stemmed from two separate sets of criminal proceedings initiated against them. 5.  On 10 July 2001 the Izmir Governor sent a letter to the Association requesting that the membership of thirteen persons be annulled as they were considered to be involved in illegal activities. 6.  On 6 August 2001 the Association replied to the Governor, maintaining that they would not execute the request since none of these thirteen persons had convictions which would ban them from founding or becoming a member of an association, as provided by Article 4 §§ 2 and 3 of the Law on Associations (Law No. 2908). 7.  On 8 November 2001 and 13 November 2001, respectively, the İzmir Public Prosecutor took the applicants' statements and informed them that a prosecution had been initiated against them for non-compliance with Article 4 of Law No. 2908 and that no court proceedings would be initiated if they paid a fine of 142,366,000 Turkish liras (TRL)[1] per person within ten days. The applicants did not pay the fine within ten days as required by the payment order. 8.  Subsequently, on 3 December 2001 the İzmir public prosecutor filed a bill of indictment against the applicants and the other members of the Board. The public prosecutor requested that the accused be sentenced to a fine under Article 75 of the Law on Associations and Article 119 of the Criminal Code for their failure to comply with the İzmir Governor's request. The bill of indictment was not notified to the applicants. 9.  On 26 December 2001 the Izmir Magistrates' Court, without holding a hearing, found the applicants and other co-accused guilty as charged and, by a penal order (ceza kararnamesi), sentenced them to a fine of TRL 213,548,400[2] per person. In doing so, the court relied on the “simplified procedure” stipulated in Article 386 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for relatively minor offences. 10.  The applicants and the other co-accused filed an objection with the Izmir Criminal Court against the decision of 26 December 2001. 11.  On 6 February 2002 the İzmir Criminal Court dismissed the objection, without holding a hearing. 12.  The applicants paid the due amounts. 13.  Subsequently, on 16 December 2002 the first applicant applied to the Ministry of Justice, requesting the Minister to issue a written order (yazılı emir) and refer the case to the Court of Cassation. 14.  On 29 January 2003 the Minister of Justice issued a written order and instructed the Chief Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation to ask the Court of Cassation to set aside the judgment concerned. 15.  On 14 April 2003 the Court of Cassation quashed the judgment of the Izmir Criminal Court dated 6 February 2002 and the case file was remitted to the Izmir Magistrates' Court. 16.  On 14 May 2003 the İzmir Magistrates' Court held a preparatory hearing and included the case in its list. It further decided to summon all of the defendants, including the applicants, to its next hearing. 17.  On 14 July, 7 August and 22 October 2003 respectively, the Court held three hearings. The applicants did not attend any of them. 18.  At its last hearing held on 22 October 2003, the Magistrates' Court held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because, following the promulgation of Law No. 4854 on 24 April 2003, the sentence faced by the applicants for not complying with the İzmir Governorship's order had been classified as an administrative fine. During these proceedings, none of the defendants made submissions to the court. 19.  On 20 November 2003 the second applicant's lawyer appealed against this decision. 20.  On 25 February 2004 the Court of Cassation upheld the decision of the İzmir Magistrates' Court Court. The case file was sent to the Governorship of İzmir. 21.  On 9 October 2001 the applicants participated in a collective press statement in protest against the military operations of the United States in Afghanistan. 22.  By letters dated 8 November 2001 to Mr Barışık and 13 November 2001 to Mr Alp, the prosecutor notified the applicants that a prosecution had been initiated against them under Article 34 of the Law on contributing to the establishment of an unlawful organisation, the so-called “Platform of Conscientious Objectors to War”. The prosecutor also informed the applicants that no court proceedings would be initiated if each of them paid a fine of TRL 142,366,000 within ten days. 23.  In the absence of payment, the prosecutor filed an indictment, on 3 December 2001, charging the applicants and five directors of the Association with a violation of Article 34 of the Act. Again, the bill of indictment was not served on the applicants. 24.  On 31 December 2001 the Magistrates' Court of İzmir, following the simplified procedure and, thus, without holding a hearing, convicted the applicants as charged (case no. 2001/2160). By issuing a penal order, it sentenced them to an increased fine of TRL 213,548,400 per person. However, the court suspended the sentence pursuant to Article 6 of Law No. 647 on the execution of sentences. 25.  On 18 February 2002 the applicants filed an objection with the İzmir Criminal Court against the penal order. They argued that their convictions violated their right to freedom of expression and that “a collective statement to the press” could not be classified as a contribution to the establishment of an unlawful organisation. They further complained that the indictment had not been communicated to them and that the court had not obtained their statements or heard their counter-evidence. 26.  On 20 February 2002 the criminal court dismissed their objection, again without holding a hearing.