An indictment seeking a prison sentence of up to seven years for İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu over his recent criticism of Turkey’s judicial authorities was accepted by a high criminal court in İstanbul, Turkish Minute reported on Wednesday.
The mayor, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), who ended the years-long rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in İstanbul in the 2019 local election, is frequently the target of judicial harassment.
The İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court accepted the recent indictment accusing him of “targeting individuals fighting terrorism,” “insult” and “threat.” The first hearing of his trial will be held on April 11.
İmamoğlu faces a prison sentence of between two years, eight months and seven years, four months due to his criticism of İstanbul’s chief public prosecutor, Akın Gürlek, and his family during a panel discussion on January 20.
Gürlek is listed in the indictment as the “victim.”
The mayor had accused the government of “instrumentalizing” the judiciary to punish its opponents, claiming that Gürlek acts on orders from the government to discredit him and other mayors in İstanbul from the CHP.
The indictment states that İmamoğlu is believed to have publicly used the position and influence afforded by his office to put pressure on judicial authorities and sway them in favor of his political party.
The prosecutors also demand that the mayor be barred from “holding any permanent, temporary or fixed-term public office” in line with Article 53 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).
The mayor, who is also fighting several other legal cases, had already been sentenced to more than two years in prison and barred from politics in December 2022 for allegedly insulting members of Turkey’s Supreme Election Board (YSK). The mayor faces a political ban if his conviction is upheld by an appeals court.
İmamoğlu, who was re-elected mayor last year, vowed not to give up.
“We will keep fighting injustice,” he said.
