I lost three kilograms in jail, journalist Can Dündar says

İpek Yezdani - ISTANBUL

The International Press Institute (IPI) Turkey National Committee has paid a visit to Cumhuriyet journalist Can Dündar who was released early on Feb. 26 after 92 days in Silivri Prison together with Erdem Gül, the Ankara bureau chief of the newspaper. 

Dündar said he lost three kilograms in jail, adding that “the support of our colleagues and also the international support kept us alive inside the prison.”

“Especially protests like the ‘Hope Watch,’ which was carried out by the fellow journalists who volunteered to keep watch in front of Silivri Prison, was a very creative action that gave us hope,” Dündar said.

Dündar also commented on the statement made by the head of the Constitutional Court who defended a recent ruling on the journalists’ release. 

“The statement of the head of Turkey’s Constitutional Court is very positive and very important in the name of rule of law,” Dündar said. 

“If the local court makes a decision against the ruling of the Constitutional Court and issues an arrest for Can Dündar and Erdem Gül again, this would [isolate Turkey more] and it would put Turkey in a very difficult position in the international arena,” IPI Turkey National Committee head Kadri Gürsel said.