While the Romanian-language press apparently did not react to the article, the tribunal at Târgu Mureș indicted him for press agitation four months later. He was also accused of incitement to hatred against the Hungarian nation, and several weeks after the indictment was issued, published a lawyerly response to the charges. There, he attempted to show that the authorities consistently targeted Romanian journalists as "Vlach irredentists", while Hungarian-language newspapers promoting a similar language against Romanian ethnics were left alone. The trial began in December 1909; it drew interest both because the accused was a prominent lawyer and because of the judge's identity. While still a prosecutor, the presiding judge, Lázár Miklós, had labeled 1848 revolutionary Avram Iancu as a "captain of bandits". Hossu-Longin did not hire a lawyer, and the jury of twelve was drawn from the small-scale Székely bourgeoisie.