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– The conditions of journalists in Turkey are getting worse every day. This verdict shows how brutal they are, Dündar told the AP news agency.
He himself was not present when the verdict was announced in Istanbul on Wednesday. The former editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet newspaper fled to Germany in 2016. He now lives in exile there.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Photo: ADEM ALTAN / AFP
Dündar’s lawyers were also not present during the trial. They say in a statement that they would not legitimize a political verdict,
– This decision was made by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself. The judicial system in Turkey is linked to the government, says Dündar.
Requires Dündar’s extradition
– This verdict does not violate freedom of expression, writes Fahrettin Altun in a press release. He is the communications director for the President of Turkey.
Altun demands that Dundar be arrested in Germany and returned to Turkey. It is rejected by the German authorities, according to Reuters
Can Dündar together with employees of the Cumhuriyet newspaper after his release in 2016 and before going into exile in Germany.
Photo: OZAN KOSE / AFP
Turkey has cracked down on opposition figures after the failed coup against Erdogan in 2016.
Many supporters of the opposition preacher Fethullah Gülen have been arrested and convicted for their involvement in the coup. Gülen himself lives in exile in the United States,
Amnesty believes that human rights in the country are at risk.
Photographs of military vehicles
Dündar was also linked to Gülen’s network during the trial. It happened even though he has never been a member of the group.
It was enough that he was editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet newspaper. Avisa relayed what the court thought were articles that created a positive impression of Gülen’s network.
Dündar was also convicted of printing photographs of Turkish military vehicles entering Syria with weapons. According to the newspaper, those responsible for the arms transport were the Turkish intelligence services.
Can Dündar has received countless threats against it. In May 2016, his wife Dilek and a lawyer managed to subdue a murderer and thus prevented Dündar from being shot.
Photo: Can Erok / Ap
The verdict stated that this was a “state secret disclosure”. He writes the English edition of the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet.
Erdogan has said that the military vehicles brought emergency aid to the Turkmen minority in Syria. The president announced that Dündar would pay a “high price” for printing the photographs.
Towards a human rights court
On the same day that the verdict against Dündar was announced, President Erdogan launched a fierce attack on the European Court of Human Rights.
Protesters hold up a photo of jailed Turkish opposition politician Selahattin Demirtas
Photo: UMIT BEKTAS / Reuters
At a party meeting on Wednesday, Erdogan said the court supported the terrorists because it demanded the immediate release of Kurdish MP Selahattin Demirtas.
He was part of the leadership of the second largest opposition party, the HDP, before being arrested in 2016. Demirtas is at risk of receiving 142 years in prison. He is accused of terrorism and contact with the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party, PKK.
Demirtas denies all the charges.
