Turkey seizes exiled journalist Can Dündar's assets

Duvar English

An Istanbul court on Oct. 7 ruled that the Turkish government will seize all assets of Can Dündar, former editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet newspaper.

Turkey to seize Can Dündar's assets if exiled journalist does not appear in court within 15 days

The decision came following Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court's decision back in September that Dündar would be treated as a “fugitive” and his assets would be seized if he does not return to Turkey within 15 days.

As the time period expired, the court ordered the seizure of the exiled journalist's assets, which include three properties in Istanbul, the capital Ankara and the southern province of Muğla.

The court also ordered that the Turkish Banks Association will be notified regarding the issue and the money in Dündar's bank accounts will be similarly seized.

Following the court's order, Dündar wrote on Twitter: "The real 'home' of a person is their homeland. We, 82 million citizens, are about to lose that big home in the darkness. This is now what is more important than every house."

İnsanın asıl “ev”i yurdudur.
Biz 82 milyon yurttaş, asıl o büyük evi karanlıkta kaybetmek üzereyiz.
Şu anda her evden daha önemli bu... https://t.co/I31eZ8QH7F

— Can Dündar (@candundaradasi) October 7, 2020

Dündar has been in living in exile in Germany since 2016. He fled Turkey after being convicted of espionage for publishing a story about Turkish arms shipments to Syria rebels.

The current retrial started before the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court on April 2 2019, after the Court of Cassation overturned the Regional Court of Appeal’s verdict of a prison sentence for disclosing the state’s confidential information in March 2019.