Gunman attempts to shoot Turkish journalist outside court, wife saves him

Istanbul, Turkey: An unidentified armed man attempted to shoot a Turkish journalist turned editor-in-chief of a leading opposition newspaper outside a court in Turkey's capital Istanbul. As the assailant pointed the gun at the journalist, his wife intervened and saved her husband from the gunman.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Can Dundar was in the court for the trial of a case in which he had been accused of exposing the state's secrets.

After the trial, Dundar left the courtroom with his co-defendant and his wife, Dilek. Outside the court, the gunman opened fire on Dundar and yelled 'traitor'. Dundar luckily survived the attack because of his wife. Dilek bravely fought off the assailant and protected her husband. The video footage shows the armed man with a silver pistol threatening Dundar and accusing him of stealing state's secrets. "I don't know who the attacker is but I know who encouraged him and made me a target," Dundar was quoted as saying after the brutal attack.

Watch: Turkish journalist's wife fights off armed assailant:

For exposing the state's secrets, Dundar and his partner have been sentenced to five years in prison on the charges of treason.

Police officials rushed to the spot and managed to get hold of the attacker, who was later identified as a history-sheeter.