9.  The applicant was born in 1963 and lives in Istanbul. 10.  On 30 May 1992 the applicant was taken into police custody on suspicion of aiding and abetting an illegal organisation, the Devrimci-Sol (Revolutionary-Left). 11.  On 3 June 1992 the public prosecutor at the Istanbul State Security Court filed an indictment with the latter charging the applicant, under Article 169 of the Criminal Code and Articles 4 and 5 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, with aiding and abetting members of an illegal armed organisation. 12.  On 7 September 1993 the Istanbul State Security Court acquitted the applicant of the charges against her for lack of evidence. 13.  On 23 December 1993 the Court of Cassation quashed the judgment of the Istanbul State Security Court. The court noted that the applicant had been in charge of communications among members of the Devrimci-Sol and that she had allowed them to organise meetings in her house. It further held that the first instance court had failed to take into account the applicant's confessions and the statements given by witnesses against her at the police station. 14.  On 12 April 1994 the Istanbul State Security Court delivered a judgment identical to the first one. The court noted that the applicant had refuted the confession statements she made in police custody and that the two witnesses had rejected their statements as they had allegedly been made under duress at the police station. The court reiterated that there was insufficient evidence to convict the applicant. It ruled that the applicant should be acquitted. 15.  On 3 October 1994 the Plenary Chamber of the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay Ceza Genel Kurulu) quashed the Istanbul State Security Court's judgment on the ground that there was sufficient evidence to convict the applicant. The case was referred once again to the Istanbul State Security Court. 16.  On 18 December 1995 the Istanbul State Security Court found the applicant guilty as charged and sentenced her to three years and nine months' imprisonment and debarred her from holding public office for three years. The applicant appealed. Furthermore, she requested a hearing before the Court of Cassation. 17.  On 9 July 1996 the Court of Cassation dismissed the applicant's request for a hearing holding that the request had been introduced out of time. Moreover, it upheld the judgment of the Istanbul State Security Court.