In June 2015, Turkish President Erdoğan had publicly targeted Dündar, stating: "The individual who reported this as an exclusive story will pay a heavy price for this." In prison, Dündar was denied colored pencils to draw with but made his own paint by pressing fruit in his cell, refusing the ban on color and smuggling his paintings out of prison because he "wanted to prove that color can exist even in the darkest of places."
In June 2015, Turkish President Erdoğan publicly criticized Dündar, saying: "The person who broke this story as an exclusive will face a severe penalty for this." In prison, Dündar was denied colored pencils but created his own paint by squeezing fruit in his cell, defying the ban on color and smuggling his artwork out of prison because he wanted to show that color can thrive even in the most dismal environments.