5.  The applicants were born in 1974, 1973 and 1972 respectively.
6.  On 4 May 1995 a group of about fifteen individuals carrying banners from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an illegal armed organisation, and chanting slogans in favour of the organisation marched in a street in the Küçükçekmece district of Istanbul. The members of the group threw Molotov cocktails at various shops. Several of the shops caught fire and three teenage girls were killed in one of these establishments, namely a shop called Nazlım.
7.  On the same day, Mr Canşad (“the first applicant”) was arrested and taken into custody at the Anti-Terrorism Department of the Istanbul Security Directorate.
8.  The police obtained evidence from several witnesses. One of those witnesses, a certain A.A., who had been working on the street where the events had taken place, indicated that he had seen a group of about twenty people marching in the streets, chanting slogans and throwing Molotov cocktails at shops, and that the group had dispersed after several shops had caught fire. He further stated that he had seen two individuals: a woman with curly hair wearing a jacket and white jeans, and a short-haired man who was approximately 1.80 meters tall wearing a green jacket and jeans. He added that, having seen the man from afar, he could not describe his face. However, he indicated that he would be likely to recognize the individuals concerned, and that in any event the man had already been apprehended by uniformed police officers.
9.  A second witness, a certain Ö.L.A., stated that he had seen an individual dressed in jeans and a green jacket, and that he would not be likely to recognise his face, but the man had been arrested by police officers.
10.  A third witness, a certain Y.K., an employee at Nazlım, identified the first applicant as the man who had thrown Molotov cocktails at the shop where she worked, where three people had been killed. In addition, an identification parade was carried out, at the end of which Ö.L.A. and A.A. identified the first applicant as one of the individuals who had thrown Molotov cocktails at that shop.
11.  On 11 May 1995 the first applicant was interrogated by the police in the absence of a lawyer, pursuant to section 31 of Law no. 3842, as he was accused of committing an offence falling within the jurisdiction of the State Security Courts. He admitted having had sympathy towards the illegal organisation and having been involved in the march. However, he stated that he had only acted as a lookout at the entrance to the street, and denied having thrown Molotov cocktails.
12.  On 15 May 1995 the first applicant participated in a reconstruction of the events (yer gösterme) in the absence of a lawyer. According to the record drafted by police officers and signed by the applicant, he admitted his involvement in the march but denied having thrown Molotov cocktails.
13.  On 16 May 1995 the first applicant took part in a photo identification procedure, again in the absence of a lawyer. According to a report drawn up by the police and signed by the applicant, he identified Mr Bingöl (“the second applicant”) as one of the accomplices.
14.  The first applicant’s detention was extended until 17 May 1995, with the authorisation of the public prosecutor’s office. On the same day he gave statements to the public prosecutor in the absence of a lawyer. He denied the content of the statements he had given to the police, claiming that his confession had been extorted under pressure and torture. He further stated that he had been arrested near the scene of the incident while on his way to his friend’s home, that he had seen a group of about thirty or forty people, and that he had had nothing to do with the events in connection with which he had been arrested.
15.  On the same day, the first applicant was brought before a judge of the Istanbul State Security Court, before whom he reiterated that he had not participated in the rally and had nothing to say about it. The judge ordered the first applicant’s detention and, in the absence of the second applicant, issued a warrant for the latter’s arrest.
16.  The second applicant was arrested during an identity check on 27 April 1996 in the town of Genç in the south-eastern part of the country, and was held in custody. He was then handed over to the Istanbul Security Directorate.
17.  On 9 May 1996 the second applicant took part in a photo identification procedure in the absence of a lawyer. According to a report drawn up by the police and signed by the applicant, he identified the first applicant. On the same day, he participated in a reconstruction of the events in the absence of a lawyer and admitted having thrown a Molotov cocktail at a shop on 4 May 1995.
18.  On 10 May 1996 the second applicant was interrogated by the police in the absence of a lawyer, pursuant to section 31 of Law no. 3842, as he was accused of committing an offence falling within the jurisdiction of the State Security Courts. He gave a detailed account of his activities within the illegal organisation, including his participation in the events of 4 May 1995, and provided the names of various individuals who had also participated in that incident, including that of the first applicant.
19.  On 10 May 1996 he was brought before the public prosecutor, where he accepted the statements which he had given to the police and admitted his participation in various activities of the organisation, including those of 4 May 1995. He stated that he had left the organisation and that he wished to have the benefit of Law no. 4959, which provided for amnesty and mitigation of sentence for members of terrorist organisations in exchange for information. That statement was also taken in the absence of a lawyer. Subsequently, he was brought before a judge, where he accepted the previous statements he had given. The judge ordered his detention.
20.  The first hearing was held on 27 July 1995.
21.  The applicants denied the charges against them during the criminal proceedings before the Istanbul State Security Court.
22.  On 29 August 1995 the trial court held a hearing in which, in the absence of the applicants and their lawyers, it heard several witnesses who had been interviewed by the police. Ö.L.A. indicated that, contrary to what was in the statement which he had given to the police, he had not seen anyone sufficiently clearly to be able to identify them. Y.K., an employee at Nazlım, also gave evidence in person, stating that she had seen a man and a woman set fire to the shop and had provided the police with a detailed description of the woman. As for the man, she indicated that she had not seen his face, but she had recognised him at the police station because of his clothes. At the end of the hearing the trial court issued a letter of request asking for evidence to be obtained from A.A. by his giving evidence at a court near his place of residence.
23.  At a hearing on 7 October 1997 the trial court read out a statement by A.A. given before the Bursa Assize Court. The content of that statement is not included in the file. At that hearing, counsel for the first applicant requested that A.A. should be heard by the court in the presence of the applicant. In that connection, he stated that his testimony contained significant contradictions. According to the transcript of that hearing, the first applicant did not want to participate in the hearing.
24.  At the end of each hearing the trial court decided to continue the applicants’ detention.
25.  On 22 October 1998 the applicants were sentenced to death.
26.  On 13 May 1999 the Court of Cassation quashed the judgment on procedural grounds, without examining the merits of the case.
27.  Following the judgment of the Court of Cassation, the proceedings before the trial court started again on 19 September 1999 and the composition of the trial court was changed several times. In addition, the first applicant repeatedly requested that the trial court summon A.A. in order for him to be cross-examined him directly. The trial court rejected his applications.
28.  On an unspecified date A.A. sent a letter to the Istanbul State Security Court in which he retracted his previous testimony and stated that he had not identified anyone. That letter was read out at a hearing on 7 February 2002.
29.  On 27 February 2002 the trial court sentenced the applicants to death, but commuted this to life imprisonment (müebbet ağır hapis).
30.  On 9 October 2002 the Court of Cassation quashed the judgment again on procedural grounds, without examining the merits of the case.
31.  On 9 March 2004 the Istanbul State Security Court found the applicants guilty of the offence provided for in Article 125 of the Criminal Code and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
32.  The applicants appealed against that judgment and alleged, inter alia, that A.A. had not been heard by the trial court in their presence.
33.  On 6 December 2004 the Court of Cassation dismissed the applicants’ appeal and upheld the trial court’s judgment.