4 AL-NASHIF v. BULGARIA JUDGMENT 16. In February 1995 the first applicant contracted a Muslim religious marriage with a Ms M., a Bulgarian citizen. Under Bulgarian law that marriage has no legal effect. Ms M. lived in Sofia with her mother. During an unspecified period of time Mr Al-Nashif supported them financially. It is undisputed that after the religious marriage with Ms M. the first applicant continued living with Mrs Saleh and their children in Sofia. 17. At the end of 1995 he and Mrs Saleh, together with their children, moved to Smolyan, a town of about 34,000 inhabitants in Southern Bulgaria, some 300 km away from Sofia. There the first applicant ran a butcher's shop and beverages production unit until his deportation in July 1999. Between November 1998 and April 1999 he also taught Islamic classes. 18. At the beginning of 1996 Ms M. followed the first applicant to Smolyan, where she stayed several months in an apartment rented by him. She often joined Mr Al-Nashif during his business trips to towns in Bulgaria. The first applicant stated that while in Smolyan he had continued living “on a permanent basis” with his wife Hetam Saleh and their two children, the second and the third applicants. He submitted copies of two affidavits, made in June 2000 by his wife, Mrs Saleh, and by his sister-in-law, the wife of his brother, who had resided in Bulgaria since 1998, both confirming that Mr Al-Nashif lived in Smolyan with Mrs Saleh. In a statement made on 19 January 2001 at the request of the Government for the purposes of the hearing in the present case, Ms M. stated that the first applicant had lived with her in Smolyan. 19. Ms M. apparently suffered from a mental disturbance. In December 1996 she was hospitalised in a psychiatric clinic. Thereafter she did not return to Smolyan and stayed in Sofia. 20. Throughout 1997 the first applicant visited Ms M. in Sofia. Their relationship ended in early 1998. B. The revocation of the first applicant's residence permit 21. On 14 January 1999 a police officer in Smolyan reported to his superiors (see paragraph 63 below) on Mr Al-Nashif's religious activities. On an unspecified date in 1999 the Regional Prosecutor's Office (окръжна прокуратура) in Smolyan opened file no. 18/99 which was later transmitted to the police. The local police in Smolyan, by a report of 18 March 1999 to the Identity Papers and Passport Regime Department (Направление “Документи за самоличност и паспортен режим”) of the National Police Directorate at the Ministry of the Interior (“the Passport Department”), proposed that the first applicant's residence permit be revoked.