4.  The applicant was born in 1978 and lives in Izmir. 5.  The applicant was the representative of the Izmir branch of a political journal, namely the “Bread and Justice” (Ekmek ve Adalet) magazine. 6.  In April and May 2002, the Istanbul State Security Court declared several issues of this journal illegal and ordered their confiscation. 7.  On 21 May 2002 police officers conducted a search in the branch building, where they found some books, cassettes, magazines and compact discs, which they believed to be illegal. 8.  On an unspecified date, the Izmir public prosecutor took a statement from the applicant and, on 15 July 2002, he filed an indictment with the Izmir Magistrates' Court accusing the applicant of “not obeying the official authorities' order” under Article 526 § 1 of the Criminal Code. 9.  On 6 September 2002 the Izmir Magistrates' Court, without holding a hearing, issued a penal order pursuant to Article 386 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and sentenced the applicant to three months' imprisonment and a fine. The imprisonment measure was then commuted to a fine and the applicant was sentenced to a total fine of 381,682,144 Turkish liras (“TRL”)[1]. 10.  On 21 November 2002 the applicant challenged this decision before the Izmir Criminal Court. On 3 December 2002 that court dismissed the applicant's appeal without a hearing. The applicant was notified of this final decision on 12 December 2002. 11.  Because the applicant failed to pay her fine, on 21 January 2003, the Karşıyaka public prosecutor transformed the fine into a sentence of imprisonment. The applicant was imprisoned in April 2004 and was later released on probation due to good conduct.