ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd December, 2020) An Istanbul court sentenced opposition journalist Can Dundar in absentia to 27 years and six months in prison on Wednesday on charges of espionage and aiding a terrorist organization, the NTV channel reported.
Dundar, then-editor-in-chief of the center-left Cumhuriyet newspaper and his colleague, Erdem Gul, were arrested in November 2015 on charges of espionage. Prosecutors sought life sentences for them. In February 2016, the Turkish Constitutional Court ruled that the journalists' arrest was a violation of their rights. As a result, Dundar and Gul were released pending their sentencing.
In May 2016, the court sentenced Dundar to five years and 10 months in prison, but he was not rearrested pending appeal. Since June 2016, the former Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief has been living in Germany.
As part of the case, Dundar was accused of disclosing state secrets after the news outlet published footage alleging that Turkey had a role in arming Syrian militants.
