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		</div><p>A Turkish pop-singer faces up to three years in prison after being charged with “inciting hatred and enmity” over a joke she made about religious schools in the country.</p>
<p>Singer-songwriter Gulsen was jailed last week but was released four days later and placed under house arrest.</p>
<p>The charges stem from a joke the singer made during a concert in April, when she quipped that one of her musicians’ “perversion” came from attending a religious school.</p>
<p>A video of the singer’s comment began circulating on social media recently, with a hashtag calling for her arrest.</p>
<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and many members of his Islam-based ruling party are graduates of religious schools called Imam Hatip, which were originally established to train imams.</p>
<p>The 48-page indictment has 702 complainants, including from individuals, a pro-government women’s rights organisation and an association from the religious school.</p>
<p>Turkey’s penal code criminalises incitement of hatred and enmity against different groups in society based on class, race, religion or sect, requiring a prison sentence in cases that lead to threats against public safety.</p>
<p>In her statement to the police included in the indictment, Gulsen said she had joked with a band-member whose nickname was “imam” but who had not attended the school.</p>
<p>“I never said this to insult or denigrate students of Imam Hatips or a segment of our country. My respect for all values and sensitivities of the country is eternal,” she said and denied the charges.</p>
<p>The 46-year-old singer, whose full name is Gulsen Colakoglu, had previously become a target in Islamic circles due to her revealing stage outfits and for unfurling an LGBTQ flag at a concert.</p>
<p>A court has to approve the indictment for the trial to begin.</p>
<p>A request by Gulsen’s lawyer for her to be released from house arrest was rejected.</p>
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