8 PREZHDAROVI v. BULGARIA JUDGMENT criminal proceedings against the first applicant, had been caught up in the search-and-seizure operation. Relying on Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, they further complained that the authorities had retained the computers during the criminal proceedings against the first applicant, despite the fact that they contained personal information and that the second applicant had been using them for her business activities. They also pointed out that on one occasion the prosecutor had failed to send the applicants’ appeal in this respect to the court. 34. The Court considers that the applicants’ complaints fall to be examined solely under Article 8, which provides as follows: “1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private ... life .... 2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.” A. Admissibility 35. The Government stated that the second applicant could not be considered a victim of the alleged violation of Article 8 because the computers belonged not to her but solely to the first applicant. The Government further submitted that the first applicant had failed to exhaust the relevant domestic remedies because he had not raised his objections to the search-and-seizure operation in the search-and-seizure record (see paragraph 18 above). 36. The applicants responded that the second applicant was a victim of the alleged violations, and that the Government’s objection in this connection was ill-founded. As for the first applicant’s failure to write down his arguments against the measure, they stated that he had been unable to react immediately to the operation. In any event, he had tried to submit his objections to the judge who examined the record, but to no avail. 37. The Court considers that the questions of the second applicant’s victim status and of the exhaustion of domestic remedies are closely related to the merits of the complaint, and therefore joins the Government’s objections to the merits. 38. The Court further considers that the complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention or inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible.