8.  The applicant was born in 1974 and lives in Istanbul. 9.  On 22 February 1997 the applicant was arrested by police officers from the anti-terrorist branch of the Istanbul Security Directorate and was placed in custody on suspicion of membership of an illegal armed organisation, namely the MLKP (Marxist Leninist Communist Party). 10.  On 6 March 1997 the applicant was brought before the investigating judge at the Istanbul State Security Court (“the State Security Court”). Subsequently, the investigating judge ordered the applicant's detention on remand. 11.  On 10 March 1997 the applicant challenged her detention on remand with the State Security Court. In the petition, the applicant stated that her address was known, and that there was no danger of her absconding or destroying the evidence. The State Security Curt rejected her objections, upholding the previous order of detention on remand. 12.  On 18 March 1997, the public prosecutor at the Istanbul State Security Court filed an indictment with the same court against 23 persons including the applicant, inter alia, accusing her of being a member of the MLKP and having explosives in her possession. The public prosecutor requested that the applicant be punished pursuant to Articles 168 § 1 and 264 § 5 of the Criminal Code and Article 5 of Law No. 3713 (Anti-Terrorism Law). 13.  On 1 April 1997 the State Security Court commenced the trial against the applicant and prolonged her detention on remand having regard to the nature of the offences of which she was accused. 14.  On 8 October 1997 the court took a statement from the applicant, who denied all the charges against her. The applicant also repudiated the veracity of her police statement, alleging that it was made under duress. At the same hearing, the court ordered the applicant's continued detention having regard to “the nature of the offence, the content of the case-file, and the non-completion of the evidence”. 15.  At the hearing of 3 December 1997 the court heard three witnesses called by a co-accused of the applicant. Hand-written documents were shown to the applicant. The applicant accepted that these belonged to her, concerning notes taken from books. At the same hearing, the court accepted the intervention of the owner of a car which had been used during a robbery as the intervening complainant. The court further decided to ask the Istanbul 7th Assize Court about the outcome of criminal proceedings brought against the police officers that had conducted the preliminary investigation into the applicant and her co-accused. At the end of the hearing, the court rejected the applicant's request for release pending trial because of “the nature of the offence, the state of the evidence and the duration of the detention”. 16.  On 11 February 1998 the court decided to separate two of the applicant's co-accused's cases from the case-file and join them to other cases pending before other divisions of the Istanbul State Security Court. At the end of the hearing, the court ordered the applicant's continued detention having regard to “the nature of the offence, the state of the evidence, and the duration of detention”. 17.  At the hearing of 29 May 1998, the court showed the applicant photographs taken during the Mayday demonstration of 1 May 1996 by the police. The applicant accepted that she had participated in the demonstration and was in the photographs. At the same hearing the court rejected the applicant's request for release pending trial on the grounds previously stated. 18.  On 31 July 1998 the prosecution submitted their observations on the merits of the case, requesting that the applicant be punished for being a member of the MLKP. The court fixed fifteen days for the defence to submit their observations. At the end of the hearing it prolonged the applicant's detention on remand on the grounds of “the nature of the offence, the state of the evidence, and that the case was due to be decided upon”. 19.  The applicant did not attend the hearing of 30 September and 27 November 1998 of her own free will. The court issued a summons to the applicant in order that she submit her defence either in writing or in person at the subsequent hearings. It further decided to prolong the applicant's detention on remand due to “the nature of the offence, the state of evidence and the duration of detention”. 20.  At the hearings of 17 February and 9 July 1999 the court noted that the information requested from Istanbul 7th Assize Court had not been sent. Accordingly, it repeated the earlier request. It further prolonged the applicant detention on the same grounds, namely “having regard to the nature of the offence, the state of the evidence and the duration of detention”. 21.  At the hearings of 22 September and 1 December 1999 the court noted letters sent by the Istanbul 7th Assize Court, informing the trial court that the criminal proceedings brought against the police officers were still pending. The court issued letters to the Istanbul 7th Assize Court asking for new information concerning the outcome of the proceedings and requesting that a copy of the judgment be sent once delivered. 22.  On 11 February 2000 the applicant's lawyer referred to the case-law of the Court and requested that the applicant be released pending trial. This was rejected. 23.  On 21 April 2000 the court decided to re-issue the letter to the Istanbul 7th Assize Court. 24.  On 21 June 2000, the applicant's lawyer reminded the court that his client had been kept in detention for forty months, contrary to the Court's established case-law. The court decided to prolong the applicant's detention relying on “the nature of the offence, the state of the evidence and the duration of detention”. 25.  At the hearing of 18 April 2001 the court, with the dissenting opinion of a member of the panel, decided to prolong the applicant's detention on remand. The dissenting opinion read as follows:
“I oppose the respectable majority's opinion which prolonged the duration of the detention, as the evidence against the defendants has all been collected in the case file, therefore there exists no danger of destroying it and that the duration of the detention which the defendants have already undergone is lengthy enough.” 26.  On 29 June 2001 the court decided to release the applicant due to ill-health. 27.  On 16 October 2002 the applicant was convicted of being a member of an illegal armed organisation and was sentenced to twelve years and six months' imprisonment. 28.  The applicant appealed against this judgment. 29.  On 15 January 2004 the Court of Cassation quashed the applicant's conviction on the ground that the State Security Court had delivered its judgment without awaiting and considering the outcome of the criminal proceedings before the Istanbul 7th Assize Court, concerning the police officers who conducted the preliminary investigation into the applicant and her co-defendants. The case-file was remitted to the Istanbul State Security Court for further examination. 30.  On 17 March 2004 the Istanbul State Security Court resumed the trial against the applicant. It consequently repeated its request to the Istanbul 7th Assize Court. 31.  Following the abolition of the Istanbul State Security Court, the case was transferred to the Istanbul 11th Assize Court, where it is still pending.