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German Kurdish singer pleads to Merkel for release from prison

GERMAN-BORN Kurdish singer Saide Inac has penned an open letter to Chancellor Angela Merkel pleading for her release from a Turkish prison where she has been held since June on trumped-up terrorism charges.

Ms Inac – known by her stage name Hozan Cane – was arrested in Turkey in Erdine province after she had been in the country performing at a series of People’s Democratic Party (HDP) rallies and events in the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary elections.

She has been accused of being a member of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) based on her song lyrics and posts she had made on social media.

Prosecutors charged that she had been spreading terrorist propaganda for the organisation because a  scene in her film the 74th Genocide in Sinjar – about the Isis massacre of thousands of Yazidis in 2014 – allegedly shows her posing with PKK members.

She has written to Ms Merkel ahead of her trial which starts today – one day before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to meet the German Chancellor for a controversial state visit.

Ms Inac urged Ms Merkel to use her influence and the visit to secure her release, complaining of poor health and malnutrition.

Earlier this year the German government negotiated the freedom of German Turkish journalist Denis Yucel, who had been held in Turkey for a year. But it faced criticism over a potential arms deal struck during the negotiations.

The German Press Agency reported on Monday that it had received the letter, however had not published it at the time the Star went to print.

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