AL-NASHIF v. BULGARIA JUDGMENT 7 On 4 July 1999 the first applicant was deported from Bulgaria. He was brought to the airport and put on the first available direct flight to Damascus. 33. His wife, Mrs Saleh, and their children initially remained in Bulgaria. In May 2000 the second applicant, who was then seven years' old, completed first grade in the elementary school in Smolyan. The third applicant, who was six years old at that time, attended preparatory school. 34. As Mrs Saleh had no income in Bulgaria and the first applicant was unable to provide financial support from Syria, on 29 June 2000 Mrs Saleh and the second and third applicants left Bulgaria. They went initially to Syria where they stayed for a month with Mr Al-Nashif. As there was allegedly no room for the family there, Mrs Saleh and the children went to Jordan, to the home of Mrs Saleh's parents. Mr Al-Nashif travelled to Jordan on a one-month visa and on 5 September 2000 returned to Syria as he had allegedly no legal right of remaining in Jordan. D. The attempts of the first applicant to challenge the measures against him 1. Appeal against Order no. 63552 35. On 4 May 1999 counsel for Mr Al-Nashif submitted appeals against Order no. 63552 (the revocation of residence order) to the Supreme Administrative Court (Върховен административен съд) and to the Ministry of the Interior. 36. The latter appeal was rejected on 1 June 1999 by the National Police Directorate at the Ministry of the Interior. The decision stated that in accordance with Section 47 (1) of the Aliens Act an order concerning a matter of national security was not subject to review. 37. The appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court was transmitted by decision of the court to the Ministry of the Interior with instructions to complete the case-file. Thereafter it was transmitted to the Sofia City Court (Софийски градски съд), which was competent to deal with it. 38. On 28 June 1999 the Sofia City Court, sitting in camera, granted Mr Al-Nashif's lawyer's request for a stay of execution. The court noted that orders issued under the Aliens Act were not subject to judicial review if they directly concerned issues of national security. The court found, however, that the evidence submitted to it by the Ministry of the Interior did not support the allegation that the first applicant posed a threat to national security or to the national interests. In these circumstances the court considered that the appeal could not be declared inadmissible at that stage, the holding of a hearing being necessary. Pending such hearing it was appropriate to stay the execution of Order no. 63552 to avoid an infringement of the first applicant's rights.