4.  The applicants, who were born in 1982, 1975 and 1979 respectively, reside in Istanbul. 5.  On 13 July 1998 the first two applicants were arrested and taken into custody at Gaziosmanpaşa police station on suspicion of their involvement in a robbery. Subsequently, on 15 July 1998 the third applicant was taken into custody in connection with the same offence. 6.  The applicants alleged that during their police custody, they had been subjected to various forms of ill-treatment. In particular, they stated that they had been blindfolded, stripped naked, hung by their arms, given electric shocks, harassed, threatened, punched, kicked, beaten with truncheons and other blunt objects, and subjected to falaka (whipping on the soles of the feet). 7.  On 18 July 1998 the applicants were examined at a hospital. The doctor who examined them reported that there were no signs of physical violence on their bodies. According to the applicants, the doctor was a friend of the police officer who had accompanied them to the hospital, and he had drafted the report without carrying out a medical examination. 8.  On 19 July 1998 the applicants were interrogated by the public prosecutor and the investigating judge. The second and third applicants alleged before the investigating judge that they had been ill-treated during their time in police custody. The applicants were then remanded in custody upon the order of the investigating judge. 9.  On the same date, the applicants filed a criminal complaint with the public prosecutor and complained of ill-treatment. The public prosecutor initiated an investigation and ordered that the applicants be taken to the Gaziosmanpaşa Health Clinic for a medical examination. The doctor who examined the applicants noted the following injuries:
(a)  Mr Yazıcı had three parallel bruises on his back measuring 1x10 cm and a bruise inside his left cheek measuring 1 cm;
(b)  Mr Polat had two bruises measuring 1x10 cm on his back and a wound measuring 1x2 cm on the back of his right foot; and
(c)  Mr Sağın had four bruises measuring 1x10 cm on his back and a wound measuring 1x1cm on the outer side of his right foot. 10.  On 10 May 1999 the Gaziosmanpaşa Forensic Medicine Institute issued a report regarding the applicants’ injuries. Based on the findings indicated in the medical report of 19 July 1998, it was concluded that the first and second applicants were unfit to work for five days and the third applicant for seven days. 11.  On 1 October 1999 the prosecutor at the Eyüp Assize Court filed an indictment against three police officers, accusing them of torture pursuant to Article 243 of the former Criminal Code. 12.  On 13 October 1999 the criminal proceedings before the Eyüp Assize Court commenced. The applicants joined the proceedings as civil parties. 13.  On 21 December 2000 Law no. 4616 on conditional release was enacted. This law provided for the suspension of proceedings or of the execution of sentences in respect of crimes committed before 23 April 1999 and for which the maximum penalty did not exceed ten years’ imprisonment. Section 5(a) of Law no. 4616 stipulated that the execution of sentences in respect of offences proscribed by, amongst others, Article 243 of the former Criminal Code could not be suspended. 14.  On 25 October 2005 the Eyüp Assize Court decided that the acts allegedly committed by the accused police officers fell within the scope of Article 245 of the former Criminal Code, regarding ill-treatment. It therefore decided that pursuant to section 1(4) of Law no. 4616, the criminal proceedings should be suspended and subsequently discontinued if no offence of the same or a more serious kind was committed by the offenders within a five-year period. 15.  On 8 November 2007 the Court of Cassation quashed the judgment of the first-instance court on the grounds that the statutory time-limit had expired. Accordingly, the criminal proceedings against the police officers were discontinued.