5.  The applicants were born in 1949, 1960 and 1964 respectively and were serving their prison sentences in Antalya prison at the time of their applications to the Court. 6.  At the time of the events, the first applicant was the General Secretary and the other applicants were the members of the board of directors of the Turkish Socialist Workers Party (Türkiye Sosyalist İşçi Partisi). 7.  On 12 December 2000 a demonstration concerning the establishment of F-type prisons turned violent. On the same day the police, in accordance with a search warrant issued by a State Security Court, searched the Party building and found a number of documents and materials. 8.  On 19 December 2000 the applicants were remanded in custody. 9.  On 9 January 2001 the public prosecutor at the Ankara State Security Court filed an indictment accusing the applicants of aiding and abetting an illegal organisation and requested that they be convicted and sentenced under Article 169 of the Criminal Code and Article 5 of the Law no. 3713. 10.  In the course of the proceedings, the applicants maintained that the materials found during the search could have been placed there by anyone since anyone could have entered into the building. They pointed out that, on the day of the search, there had been a violent demonstration during which the doors and the windows of the Party building had been broken. 11.  On 15 May 2001 the Ankara State Security Court, referring to the documents and materials seized in the Party building, convicted the applicants as charged and sentenced them to three years and nine months' imprisonment. The court further barred them from public service for three years. 12.  The applicants appealed to the Court of Cassation. 13.  On an unspecified date, the principal public prosecutor submitted his written opinion to the Court of Cassation. This opinion was not communicated to the applicants. 14.  On 26 November 2001 the Court of Cassation held a hearing and upheld the judgment of the first-instance court. This decision was pronounced, in the absence of the applicants and their representatives, on 28 November 2001. 15.  On 20 August 2003 the applicants were released from prison.