8.  On 29 November 1980 police officers from the Ankara Security Directorate arrested the applicant on suspicion of membership of an illegal organisation, the Dev-Yol (Revolutionary Way). 9.  On 26 January 1981 the Ankara Martial-Law Court (sıkıyönetim mahkemesi) remanded the applicant in custody. 10.  On 26 February 1982 the military public prosecutor filed a bill of indictment with the Martial-Law Court against the applicant and 722 other defendants. The public prosecutor accused the applicant of membership of an illegal armed organisation, namely the Dev-Yol, whose object was to undermine the constitutional order and replace it with a Marxist-Leninist regime. He further charged the applicant with having been involved in a number of crimes such as acting as an armed look-out for the killers of several individuals, a bomb attack on a coffee house and opening fire on a house.
The prosecution sought the death penalty under Article 146 § 1 of the Turkish Criminal Code. 11.  In a judgment of 19 July 1989 the Martial-Law Court, composed of two civilian judges, two military judges and an army officer, found the applicant guilty as charged, sentenced him to life imprisonment (in effect eighteen years assuming good conduct) for offences under Article 146 § 1 of the Criminal Code and permanently debarred him from employment in the civil service. It took from 19 July 1989 until 1993 for the reasons for the judgment to be set down in writing. 12.  The applicant lodged an appeal with the Military Court of Cassation (askeri yargıtay). 13.  On 23 July 1991 the Martial-Law Court ordered the applicant’s release pending trial. 14.  Following promulgation of the Law of 27 December 1993, which abolished the jurisdiction of the martial-law courts, the Court of Cassation (yargıtay) acquired jurisdiction over the case and the file was transmitted to it. 15.  On 27 December 1995 the Court of Cassation upheld the applicant’s conviction.