İstanbul’s jailed mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, on Wednesday rejected what he called a “fabricated” indictment seeking a record sentence of up to 2,430 years in prison, accusing prosecutors of running a political vendetta aimed at destroying Turkey’s main opposition party and silencing its supporters, Turkish Minute reported.
İmamoğlu, who is also the presidential candidate of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has been held in the high-security Marmara Prison in İstanbul’s Silivri district since March on corruption charges. He was detained after a police raid on the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, which he has headed since 2019.
Prosecutors on Tuesday released a nearly 4,000-page indictment accusing İmamoğlu of running what they call a “criminal organization” within the municipality and committing 142 offenses including bribery, fraud, bid rigging and money laundering. They also claim that he used illicit funds to gain political control of the CHP and prepare for an election run against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The charges carry a cumulative prison sentence of between 828 and 2,430 years. The document, submitted to the İstanbul 40th High Criminal Court, describes the mayor as the “founder and leader” of a network that allegedly caused public losses worth 160 billion Turkish lira, or about $5 billion.
In his first detailed reaction on X, İmamoğlu called the indictment “a pile of lies built through threats and coercion.”
“They spent 237 days to produce this unlawful text of slanders and falsehoods,” he wrote. “You should be ashamed. If you are brave, broadcast the hearings live. Let the people decide who is guilty: those on trial, or those running this corrupt investigation.”
He urged parliament to allow the trial to be aired on public broadcaster TRT, saying citizens had the right to see the case unfold.
CHP Chairman Özgür Özel described the indictment as “a memorandum from coup plotters in judicial robes,” comparing it to military ultimatums that once overthrew civilian governments in Turkey.
“This is not a legal document,” Özel said in a statement. “Its purpose is to stop the Republican People’s Party, the party founded by [Turkey’s founding father] Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and to block its presidential candidate.”
The indictment has also triggered concern among other opposition parties. Müsavat Dervişoğlu, leader of the nationalist opposition İYİ (Good) Party, said the case “clearly aims to put the CHP in the crosshairs” and reflects how “some trials in Turkey are carried out at someone’s request rather than by law,” implying President Erdoğan’s directives led to the indictment.
International criticism has followed the news that prosecutors are seeking a sentence exceeding 2,000 years.
Italian Member of the European Parliament Dario Nardella, from the center-left Democratic Party, called the demand “astonishing” and said İmamoğlu “has become a symbol of the fight for freedom and democracy.” He announced that a delegation of European lawmakers from the Socialists and Democrats group will visit İstanbul in December to express support for the mayor and his family.
“This is not politics. This is a direct assault on democracy,” the European Democrats, a centrist political party represented in the European Parliament, said on social media, warning that proceedings could even lead to the dissolution of the CHP.
İmamoğlu’s detention in March had already sparked the largest street demonstrations in Turkey in more than a decade, with tens of thousands protesting what they see as a politically motivated crackdown on the opposition. The CHP, which won nationwide municipal elections in 2024, says the mayor’s prosecution is meant to reverse its electoral gains and consolidate Erdoğan’s control over the country.
Turkish authorities insist the judiciary acts independently and that the charges concern corruption and bid manipulation, not politics. But rights groups and Western officials have long accused the government of using the courts to neutralize its opponents.
İmamoğlu, 54, rose to prominence after defeating Erdoğan’s party twice in İstanbul’s 2019 municipal race, ending the ruling party’s 25-year control of the city. He won re-election in 2024 despite mounting legal pressure.
