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After more than two years in prison in Turkey, the Cologne singer with the stage name Hozan Cane is free. He was released from prison in Edirne, western Turkey, on Thursday night, his lawyer Newroz Akalan told the German news agency. The court accepted the defense objection that the long period of detention was disproportionate and ordered the release of Canes. However, an exit ban has been imposed, Akalan said.
The singer was arrested in Edirne shortly before the presidential and parliamentary elections in June 2018. In November of that year, she was sentenced to six years and three months in prison for belonging to a terrorist organization. The case was reopened in August after the highest appeals court failed to comply with the verdict. There is no clear evidence of alleged membership in the PKK banned Kurdish Workers’ Party, it was said to justify. The accusation was based, among other things, on content from Facebook and Twitter profiles.
Cane’s daughter also accused
The baton trial continues on October 20. The trial of Cane’s daughter Gönül Örs, who is also accused of terrorist charges in Turkey, continues in Istanbul on Thursday.
Since January 2017, a series of arrests of German citizens for “political reasons” have caused a serious crisis between Berlin and Ankara. In addition to journalist Deniz Yücel, who has been living in Germany again since February 2018, German journalist Mesale Tolu and German human rights activist Peter Steudtner were temporarily in Turkish custody. They are both now back in Germany.
Steudtner was acquitted of allegations of terrorist support in Turkey in early July; four human rights activists charged with him were convicted. The trial against Tolú will continue in February 2021.
