On Wednesday, a Turkish court sentenced a well-known opposition journalist Can Dundar, who lives in exile in Germany, to 27 years in absentia for aiding a terrorist organization and espionage, according to local media outlets.
The Istanbul court convicted Dundar, former editor-in-chief of Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, for publishing an investigation confirming that Turkish intelligence services were delivering weapons to Islamist groups in Syria.
In 2016, the Turkish journalist fled to Germany to escape legal charges after being convicted of espionage for publishing this story.
According to the verdict, Dundar has been sentenced to 18 years and nine months for obtaining state secrets for espionage, as well as additional 8 years and nine months for supporting an armed terrorist organization without being a member.
His lawyers refused to attend the final hearing. “We do not want to be part of a practice to legitimize a previously decided, political verdict,” they said in a written statement ahead of the hearing.
Germany denounces the verdict
On its part, the German Journalists Association (DJV) strongly condemned the verdict, describing it as a "barbaric act."
In press statements to the German news agency (DPA), DJA Chairman, Frank Oberal said that "Can Dundar collected information, covered the events and revealed (facts)," "It's good journalism, he didn't commit a crime."
In the statement, DJV also called on the German authorities to provide absolute protection to Dundar.
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