German-Turkish Singer Faces Up To 13 Years in Prison For ‘Terrorism’

Prosecutors are seeking up to 13 years for a German singer of Turkish origin on charges of “insulting Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (the founder of the country)” and “being member of a terrorist organization”, the Turkish media reported on Friday.

47-year-old Saide Inac is currently in pretrial detention in the western province of Edirne.

The singer, also known as “Hozan Cane“, was arrested in June in the Enez district, where she travelled from Germany in order to participate in the election campaign of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) for the June 24 elections.

She was initially accused of “spreading terrorist propaganda” on social media. Subsequently, she was charged with “being member of a terrorist organization”, “instigating hatred and animosity among the public”, and “insulting Ataturk”, facing originally between nine to 21 years of imprisonment.

The first hearing in the trial against Inac was held by the Edirne 3rd High Penal Court on Friday. Inac was represented by lawyers Mustafa Pekoz and Nevroz Akalan in the hearing, which was also attended by an official from the German consulate-general in Turkey.

Denying the accusations and crying during the hearing, Inac stated her complaints about the prison conditions, adding that she had health problems and she needed to go through medical examinations regularly.

In her defense, she said “If I were a member of a terrorist organization, I wouldn’t have come to Turkey. I was invited by the HDP for a wedding party, as part of an election event. If I was spreading propaganda on the social media as I am accused, I wouldn’t have come to Turkey. If the items found in my possession were criminal, I wouldn’t have brought them to Turkey or left them at the place I was staying. I am a performer. When I take the stage in Germany, I never look at what is around the concert hall. That is not the business of the performer.”

Inac’s lawyers’ request for release was rejected by the court.

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