8.  The applicant was born in 1952 and lives in Tunceli. 9.  On 5 and 6 June 1992 the applicant participated in a meeting organised by the Tunceli Human Rights Association. At this meeting he made a speech concerning the problems of the Kurdish people and expressed his opinions on possible solutions. 10.  On 3 May 1993 the Public Prosecutor attached to the Kayseri State Security Court (“the State Security Court”) instituted criminal proceedings against the applicant together with three other persons who had participated in the meeting. In his indictment, the public prosecutor accused the applicant, under Article 8 § 1 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1991, of disseminating propaganda against the indivisibility of the State. 11.  On 26 August 1993 the State Security Court found the applicant guilty of an offence under Article 8 § 1 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act and sentenced him to two years' imprisonment and a fine of 50,000,000 Turkish Liras (TRL). In its decision the court held that the applicant, along with three other persons, had put forward the idea of a separate people contrary to the concept of nation adopted in the Constitution. The court considered that the applicant and the three other accused, in their speeches and poems, had claimed that the Kurdish people were fighting against the Republic of Turkey for their independence and that their struggle should be supported. Referring to all the speeches made by the accused, the court held that sentences such as “the Kurdish people are exercising the right of rebellion in their fight for emancipation from captivity”, “the Kurds should be given the right to determine their future”; “the Kurdish people are engaged in a great struggle, fighting for socialism and national independence” amounted to propaganda against the indivisibility of the State. The court further referred to the slogans shouted by the audience during the speeches, such as “Let Kurdistan walk” and “Deho Apo” (the PKK leader) and to the presence of the symbolic colours of the Kurdish people, i.e. red, green and yellow in the meeting hall's decorations. Finally, the court found that the accused had carried out the proscribed propaganda at a time and place at which the threat to the unity of the State and the Nation was particularly acute. 12.  The applicant appealed against this judgment. 13.  On 6 May 1994 the Court of Cassation upheld the State Security Court's judgment. 14.  Following the amendments made by Law no. 4126 of 27 October 1995 to the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the State Security Court ex officio re-examined the applicant's case. 15.  On 28 November 1998 the State Security Court confirmed the applicant's conviction, and ultimately reduced the sentence to one year's imprisonment and a fine of 50,000,000 TRL.