The trial of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and 406 other defendants was adjourned on Monday shortly after it began following a courtroom dispute over seating arrangements, while journalists covering the hearing protested new restrictions limiting their access to the proceedings, Turkish Minute reported, citing the Anka news agency.
The case, in which 107 defendants are in pretrial detention, entered its second week on Monday. The hearing was expected to continue with statements from defendants and their lawyers, but proceedings were halted after an argument erupted between a lawmaker and the presiding judge over seating in the courtroom.
The dispute involved Turan Taşkın Özer, a lawyer and member of parliament from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). Özer had attempted to sit in the section reserved for defense lawyers while wearing a lawyer’s robe.
“This is a courtroom, not a prison,” Özer said when court officials asked him to move to the audience section.
When Özer and several lawyers refused to change seats, the presiding judge first called a recess and later adjourned the hearing until Tuesday, which was announced by a court clerk rather than the panel of judges.
İmamoğlu was detained on March 19, 2025, days before members of the CHP selected him as their presidential candidate for a future election.
He faces charges of leading a criminal organization, embezzlement, bid-rigging, bribery and espionage in an indictment prosecutors say documents a decade-long criminal enterprise operating within the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The indictment characterizes İmamoğlu’s lawful political ambitions as criminal in nature.
The trial began March 9 and is expected to last for 45 days of daily hearings. İmamoğlu, who became İstanbul mayor in 2019 after defeating President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s party in a historic upset, is widely regarded as the opposition’s strongest potential challenger to Erdoğan in the presidential election scheduled for 2028.
Prosecutors are seeking a combined sentence of up to 2,430 years in prison for İmamoğlu across all charges.
Journalists protest new restrictions
The hearing also took place amid growing tension over new restrictions imposed on journalists covering the case.
Security checks at the courthouse in the Marmara prison complex on the outskirts of İstanbul were tightened compared to previous days.
Vehicles were reportedly stopped hundreds of meters from the prison facility where the hearing was being held, and journalists without government-issued press cards were barred from entering the press room and courtroom.
Journalists covering the trial issued a joint statement criticizing the decision and saying they had been seated in the back corner of the courtroom with limited visibility.
“We are once again seated in the far back corner of the courtroom, in the most obstructed area,” the journalists said in their statement, calling for permission to move back to the desks near the lawyers’ section in the interest of press freedom.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Turkey representative Erol Önderoğlu also criticized the court’s approach, calling it “discriminatory, exclusionary and unusual.”
“It is quite surprising and difficult to understand that a judicial authority treats the presence of journalists as such a problem,” Önderoğlu said.
CHP lawmaker Mahmut Tanal also condemned the restrictions, saying they could undermine press freedom and transparency in the proceedings.
“Journalists’ ability to work is being restricted,” Tanal said. “No one is above the constitution. We call on the court and the authorities to act in accordance with the law.”
The hearing had been expected to continue with the statements of lawyers representing defendant Ümit Polat, the procurement director of the municipal company Ağaç AŞ, who testified at the previous session.
According to the defense schedule prepared by the court, the trial is expected to resume Tuesday with further defense statements from Polat’s lawyers, followed by other defendants linked to allegations involving the municipal company.
The CHP has faced a sweeping legal crackdown since winning the March 2024 local elections. Fifteen of its mayors are now in prison, most on corruption or terrorism charges that rights groups say are politically motivated. Courts have also invalidated CHP party congress results and replaced elected party officials with court-appointed administrators in multiple cities.
Court seeks new restrictions on courtroom access
In a further development after Monday’s adjournment, the İstanbul 40th High Criminal Court asked prosecutors to implement additional restrictions on who may enter the courtroom for upcoming sessions of the trial.
According to Turkish media reports, the court said the measures were necessary to ensure that the proceedings could continue in an orderly manner and that defendants’ statements could be completed without disruption.
Under the proposed measures, only defendants, their lawyers, complainants and their legal representatives would be admitted to the courtroom, along with accredited members of the press. The court also requested that only one first or second-degree relative of each detained defendant be allowed inside the courtroom.
The request was approved by the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, raising questions about whether opposition politicians from the CHP will be able to attend future hearings as observers.
