MEDIA MONITORING DATABASE
“Light” sentence for attack on Can Dündar
RELATED PERSON OR INSTITUTION
Can Dündar
CITY
İstanbul
YEAR OF INTERFERENCE
2018
LAST UPDATED
02/10/2018
IMPUNITY CATEGORY
Impunity for Violence
MEDIA
National Media

In the trial heard by the İstanbul 28th Criminal Court of First Instance, Murat Şahin, who carried out an armed attack on former Cumhuriyet Editor-in-Chief Can Dündar in front of the İstanbul Çağlayan Courthouse on May 16, 2016, was sentenced to 10 months in prison for “unpermitted possession of a firearm” and to 4 thousand 500 lira administrative fine for the attempted attack that caused NTV reporter Yağız Şenkal to be wounded. Charged with instigating the attack, Ergün Celep and Sabri Boyacı were acquitted. Criticizing the lightness of the penalty given for “injury and attempted injury”, Can Dündar tweeted, “What is the punishment for firing a gun at a journalist in Turkey? Acquittal. What if the assaulter wounded someone else by mistake? 4,500 TRY. (It divided the fine into 20 instalments because ‘he does not have the means’) The only person given a penalty is the woman who saved her husband. Were we supposed to die?” (September 2).