Overview
- Prosecutors opened proceedings against Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in a corruption case involving more than 400 defendants and a nearly 4,000-page indictment outlining 142 charges.
- AFP reports prosecutors are seeking cumulative sentences totaling 2,430 years, with allegations ranging from graft and embezzlement to espionage tied to Istanbul municipal tenders.
- Imamoglu has been held at the Silivri prison complex since his March 19, 2025 arrest, a detention that spurred some of Turkey’s largest protests in more than a decade and coincided with a broader legal squeeze on the CHP.
- Authorities imposed a one-kilometer protest ban around the courthouse and capped media access, while Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International condemned what they call the weaponisation of the justice system.
- The government says the judiciary is independent, and Justice Minister Akin Gurlek, who previously led probes into Imamoglu, stated he acted without bias as the opposition figure vowed through interviews that public demand for change will persist.