INCAL JUDGMENT OF 9 JUNE 1998 6 thousand copies of the leaflet which were still parcelled up, and then at the Buca district office, where the thousand remaining copies were seized. 14. Still on 3 July 1992 the public prosecutor’s office opened a criminal investigation against the HEP’s local leaders and the members of its executive committee, including the applicant. 15. On 27 July 1992 the public prosecutor instituted criminal proceedings in the National Security Court against the applicant and the other eight members of the HEP committee who had taken part in the decision of 1 July 1992 (see paragraph 10 above). Citing the text of the leaflet, he accused them of attempting to incite hatred and hostility through racist words and asked the court to apply Articles 312 §§ 2 and 3 of the Criminal Code, section 5 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Law no. 3713) and additional section 4 of the Press Act (Law no. 5680) (see paragraphs 21, 23 and 24 below). He also asked the court to order confiscation of the leaflets. 16. On 9 February 1993 the National Security Court, composed of three judges, one of whom was a member of the Military Legal Service, found the applicant guilty of the offences charged and sentenced him to six months and twenty days’ imprisonment and a fine of 55,555 Turkish liras. It also ordered the confiscation of the leaflets and disqualified him from driving for fifteen days. In its interpretation of the wording of the leaflet, the National Security Court accepted the public prosecutor’s oral submissions entirely, except for that part which related to the applicability of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Law no. 3713). It noted in particular that the leaflet suggested recourse to resistance against the police and the establishment of “neighbourhood committees”, which it held to be illegal forms of protest. It further held that the offence had been intentionally committed, since the accused had not contested either the existence or wording of the text on which the charge was based. With regard to the severity of the sentence, it observed that although commission of the offence through the medium of print was an aggravating circumstance, it was necessary to take into account the accused’s good faith and the fact that the authorities had been able to lay hands on the leaflets before they had been distributed. 17. On 9 March 1993 the applicant and the other convicted persons appealed to the Court of Cassation. In their notice of appeal they asked for a public hearing to be held and challenged the National Security Court’s interpretation of the leaflet and its refusal to commute the prison sentence to a fine. 18. On 20 May the Principal Public Prosecutor attached to the Court of Cassation forwarded the case file together with an opinion couched in a standard form of words – which was not communicated to Mr Incal – asking the court to uphold the judgment.