 In 2010 she was sentenced to 10 months in prison by the Malatya 3rd Heavy Penal Court on charges of making propaganda for an illegal organisation.Şahin has also attracted media attention to the campaign against the Munzur Dam and helped set up the Kurdish Institute of Istanbul, a city where she spent part of her youth.In November 2016 Şahin got arrested in Tunceli over alleged links with the PKK.