Property of journalist Can Dündar to be confiscated if he fails to appear in court

* Photo: ozguruz.org

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Journalist Can Dündar has spoken about the verdict of the court which has ruled that his property shall be confiscated if he fails to appear in court.

"A government which has confiscated and used up people's accumulation of 100 years and sold the country's lands, forests, lakes, deers and the Republic's century-old institutions will naturally not abstain from having designs on our house," Dündar has protested.

While Can Dündar was sentenced to 5 years, 10 months in prison over a news report published on daily Cumhuriyet regarding the trucks of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) stopped by gendarmerie officers, the Court of Cassation reversed this judgement and his retrial continued at the İstanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court yesterday (September 17).

Upon the request of the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the court has ruled that in the event that Can Dündar, who is currently abroad, does not appear in court within 15 days, he will be considered a "fugitive" and his entire property shall be confiscated.

Speaking to Artı TV, Can Dündar has said, "What is at stake in the court ruling which it handed down in four minutes is our labor of 40 years..."

Other highlights from his comments are as follows:

'Final ruling to be handed down by history'

"I have been in this profession for 40 years. I have been engaged in nothing other than journalism, documentary-making and writership in these 40 years.

"My wife and I only have a house and a summer house registered on us thanks to the money that we earned with our elbow grease. And also the house inherited from my late father where my mothers still lives alone...

"Putting the hearing dated February back in a haste, the 14th Heavy Penal Court apparently called on me to appear in court, it has declared that if I do not appear, my whole property will be confiscated. What is at stake in the ruling that the court handed down in 4 minutes is our labor of 40 years...

"I have still several ongoing lawsuits against me, from the Gezi Trial to the Cumhuriyet case, from the MİT Trucks case to daily Özgür Gündem trial, from the December 17-25 file to insulting Erdoğan; however, there is still no ruling of conviction against me.

"I was dismissed twice because I revealed the illegal operation and corruption file of the government, I was put on trial several times, I was unjustly arrested and served time in prison. Even after I was released, I went abroad and came back many times, I defended myself in all lawsuits.

"However, after the hitman was immediately released and treated as a hero following the armed attack that targeted me in front of the courthouse, I understood the real intention of the government.

"The AKP is determined to make its dissidents rot in grave, and if not, then in jail... Those who are not in either one of them have either kept silent or they are struggling for rights by risking their lives.

"They want me to turn myself in to a justice system where prosecutors file lawsuits upon instruction and judges hand down rulings upon orders. 'Otherwise, we will confiscate your property,' they say.

"My audience knows me from my documentaries. I made documentaries on the [coups of] May 27, March 12 and September 12. I listened to witnesses and displayed it on the screen that power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely, it hits the ones who abused power in the end and an unjust throne is not passed on to even sultans, putschists or dictators.

"Today is September 17 [when the then PM Adnan Menderes was killed in capital punishment in 1961]... A page from history when a government which ruled with atrocity, disregarded the law and crushed its dissidents...

"Our job is to struggle so that our country can be freed from this oppressive regime, whose end is imminent, without living through such sad ends and to keep on saying what we know best with courage, faith and a firm stance. And keeping on doing this until our last breath..."

What happened?

After daily Cumhuriyet, whose the then Editor-in-Chief was Can Dündar, published a news report titled "Here are the weapons Erdoğan said do not exist" on May 29, 2015, an investigation was launched against the journalist on charges of "obtaining information about the security of the state", "political and military espionage", "disclosing information that should have remained confidential" and "propagandizing for a terrorist organization."

Following this news report on the MİT trucks stopped by gendarmerie officers, President Erdoğan threatened Dündar without naming him on a live program on state channel TRT, saying, "I think that this person who reported that special news will pay a heavy price for this. I will not just leave him like this..."

As part of the investigation conducted by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, former Cumhuriyet Editor-in-Chief Can Dündar and former Ankara Representative Erdem Gül were arrested on November 26, 2015 on charges of "obtaining and disclosing the confidential information of the state for purposes of political or military espionage" and "knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization as non-members."

Following the ruling of "right violation" of the Constitutional Court on February 25, 2016, Dündar and Gül were released the day after.

Commenting on this ruling, President Tayyip Erdoğan said, "I do not respect it, I do not abide by the ruling."

Accepting the indictment issued by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the İstanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court ruled that Can Dündar should be sentenced to 5 years, 10 months in prison and Erdem Gül to 5 years in prison on charge of "disclosing the confidential information of the state."

Acquitting Dündar and Gül of "attempting to overthrow the government of the Republic of Turkey or attempting to prevent it from fulfilling its duty partly or fully," the court separated the file on charge of "knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization as non-members.

On the day when he had his hearing in İstanbul, Can Dündar was targeted in an armed attack in front of the courthouse in Çağlayan. While Dündar survived the attack without any injuries, NTV reporter Yağız Şenkal was wounded in his leg. Murat Şahin, the assaulter, was sentenced to 10 months in prison and a judicial fine of 4 thousand 500 lira. While the court gave good conduct time to Şahin, it also ruled that "he could not be penalized over an attempted action."

The Court of Cassation reversed the prison sentences of Dündar and Gül on charge of "disclosing confidential information of the state" on March 9, 2018. In the light of this reversal, the trial started again at the İstanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court on April 2, 2019. The court requested a red notice against Dündar.

(EKN/SD)