Update: Hozan Cane was convicted of membership in the PKK on November 14, 2018. She was sentenced to 6 years, 3 months in prison, but plans to appeal the decision with support from the German Consulate General in Istanbul, whose representatives were present for her trial.

Prominent German-Kurdish filmmaker and actress Saide Inaç, better known by her stage name Hozan Cane, was detained in Turkey on June 22, 2018 as she campaigned for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). She has since been charged with “membership in a terrorist organization” after Turkish authorities accused her of disseminating propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on her Twitter account, and faces a maximum 13 years in prison if convicted.

Cane, who was born in Turkey and fled to Germany seeking asylum in the 1990s due to persecution of Kurds in her home country, is now a naturalized German citizen. She returned to Turkey in June ahead of the national elections held on June 24 to support the HDP’s parliamentary campaign in the northwestern province of Edirne. She had been performing at HDP events for weeks when she was finally detained at one such event on June 22, just two days before the election itself.

Authorities initially cited a Twitter post from Cane on September 3, 2017 in which she appears to be posing with a group of PKK rebels and accused her of spreading propaganda for the group, which is considered a terrorist organization by the Turkish and American governments. In fact, the photo in question is actually from the set of a film Cane recently directed and starred in called “The 74th Genocide in Sinjar”. The film depicts systematic attacks carried out by the Islamic State against Yazidis (a Kurdish speaking ethnic and religious minority) in northern Iraq in 2014. PKK fighters from Turkey helped to protect Yazidis during the attacks and are represented doing so in the film.

However, when Cane appeared before the Edirne 1st Criminal Court of Justice five days after her initial detention, the prosecutor indicted her not on propaganda charges, but rather on the charge of actual “membership in a terrorist organization.” This charge is excessive and baseless, but is unsurprising given that the Turkish government openly accuses the HDP, which won 11.7% of the vote on June 24 and successfully secured 49 parliamentary seats, of harboring sympathies for the PKK and even acting in its interests. An initial trial hearing was held on October 19, at which the prosecution announced it would be seeking a 13-year sentence for Cane.

Cane remains detained at Edirne Kapali Prison. Turkey has detained dual German-Turkish citizens in the past and delayed trial for months or even years, a common practice with many political cases in Turkish courts. The German Foreign Ministry has said it is aware of her arrest, but has made no further statements.