The former editor-in-chief of Turkish opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet was charged with terrorism and espionage. He fled to Germany in 2016, amid Ankara's crackdown on journalists after a failed coup.
Currently in exile in Germany, the former editor-in-chief of the Turkish opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet was tried in absentia. During his exile in Germany, Dundar was given 15 days to return to Turkey but he opted not to.
The court declared Dundar a fugitive and ordered the seizure of his assets in Turkey including four properties in Ankara, Istanbul and Mugla as well as bank accounts in his name. Turkish authorities also confiscated his wife's passport in September 2016.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called the verdict "a hard blow against independent journalistic work in Turkey."
"Journalism is not a crime, but an indispensable service to society — especially when it looks critically at those in power," he tweeted.
The German Journalists' Association (DJV) denounced the verdict as an "act of barbarism." "Can Dundar has investigated, reported and exposed — that is good journalism, not a crime," DJV chairman Frank Überall said.
"In free countries, there are journalist awards for this, but in Turkey, there are dungeons," he added, calling on German authorities to prevent Dundar from being "kidnapped" to Turkey.
Christian Mihr, director of Reporters Without Borders Germany (RSF) tweeted that the international nonprofit group "criticizes the judgment in the strongest possible terms!"
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