4.  On 18 June 1993 a car was broken into and a number of items were stolen. Shortly thereafter the police apprehended the applicants and took them to a police station. There they confessed that they had committed the offence and gave explanations on the manner in which they had acted. On the same day the victim of the offence was questioned. 5.  On 29 July 1993 a preliminary investigation was opened against the applicants for the theft of the items from the car. 6.  On 21 April 1999 the preliminary investigation (предварително следствие) was transformed into a police investigation (дознание). 7.  On 3 February 2002 an expert report for assessing the value of the stolen items was commissioned. 8.  On 5 and 12 February 2002, respectively, the two applicants were charged and questioned as suspects. On 14 October 2002 they were questioned by a judge. 9.  Between February and June 2002 four witnesses were questioned. 10.  On 2 April 2003 the prosecution authorities filed an indictment with the Plovdiv District Court and on the 11th the President of the Court scheduled the first hearing for 15 January 2004. 11.  At the hearing held on 15 January 2004 the court approved a plea bargain agreement between the applicants and the prosecuting authorities and discontinued the proceedings.