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Wife of Imprisoned Turkish Journalist: Husband Never Regretted His Words

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Turkish investigative journalist and editor CanDundar has never regretted his words after being jailed for exposing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's arms deliveries to Syria, Can's wife Dilek told Sputnik.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko — In November 2015, Turkish authorities arrested Dundar, who was then editor of the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, and the publication's Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul, after Erdogan and the head of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) issued accusations for reporting on the MIT's weapons deliveries to Syria.

Journalists and Turkish intellectuals shout slogans during a demonstration on December 26, 2015 in Istanbul, following the arrest of Cumhuriyet newspaper's Editor in Chief - Sputnik International
Turkey Suppressing Press Freedom Creates Dangerous Repercussions - Watchdog
"I can visit him only once a week, for one hour, behind the glass and with a telephone. Once a month an open meeting is allowed, so that I can see him and touch him. Once a week a 10-minutes telephone call only is possible," Dilek said.

In prison, they are not allowed to use computers or any type-writing devices, she told Sputnik. But it has never prevented Can from continuing to write.

"He complains about the meals and that he is writing by hand… But he has never regretted what he wrote, for what he got into jail. He would do it again," Dilek said.

On Friday, February 25, Turkey's Constitutional Court is expected to rule on whether to release Can and Erdem from jail as the two await to go to trial set to begin on March 25. If the Court decides not to set the journalists free, Dilek said she may turn to seek justice at the European Court of Human Rights.

"If they decide not to release them, then the European Human Rights Court is open, that's the case in Turkey," she told Sputnik.

During her current visit to Washington, Can's wife met with US government officials, members of Congress, and journalists, raising awareness about her husband's case. International media and coverage by foreign press have helped her a lot, she said.

Turkey's public prosecutors have requested aggravated life sentences without possibility of parole for Dundar and Gul.

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