Overview
- The first hearing at the Marmara/Silivri complex opened to cheers, then was halted within minutes after a dispute over a leaked witness list, with limited public access enforced.
- A roughly 3,700–4,000-page indictment accuses Ekrem Imamoglu of leading a criminal organization, corruption and money laundering, with alleged losses near €3.6 billion and an aggregate sentence demand exceeding 2,000 years.
- The case involves 407 defendants, about 105 in pre-trial detention, including aides, municipal staff, businesspeople and journalists, and the court set weekly sessions from Monday to Thursday.
- Prosecutors rely on testimony from 15 anonymous witnesses and cooperating defendants who plan to testify against Imamoglu, while he calls the allegations a pile of lies coerced under pressure.
- Human Rights Watch and other observers raise serious doubts about due process and judicial independence, noting the February promotion of Akın Gürlek from Istanbul prosecutor on the case to justice minister.