A Turkish court has ordered the seizure of all printed and in-production copies of a book by Ekrem İmamoğlu, the jailed mayor of İstanbul and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, and barred its distribution and sale.
The İstanbul 4th Criminal Court of Peace issued the order on August 27 at the request of the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office as part of investigation No. 2026/152864.
The decision covers the entire book, titled “Millet Şahidimdir” (The Nation Is My Witness), along with copies already printed or still on the presses.
The court cited Articles 3(2) and 25(2) of Turkey’s Press Law, which permit restrictions on press freedom and the seizure of all copies during investigations into a set of crimes.
The notice served on the publisher did not identify the alleged offense or any passage that led to the order.
Prosecutors instructed officials to serve the ruling separately on Kırmızı Kedi Publishing and the printing company, with the publisher receiving it on Thursday.
İmamoğlu said police had raided the printing house and collected the books.
He described the book as the defense he was prevented from presenting during his trial over alleged corruption at the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB).
“I will not give up, I will not be silent, and I will not surrender,” he said, adding that millions would read the book.
Main opposition New Party leader Özgür Özel, who first announced the ban on Friday, accused the government of trying to keep İmamoğlu’s defense from the public and renewed his call for the trial to be broadcast live.
İmamoğlu has been held in pretrial detention since March 2025 on corruption and organized crime charges that he denies.
The case involves more than 400 defendants, 53 of them in pretrial detention, and prosecutors accuse İmamoğlu of 142 criminal acts while seeking a prison term of 828 to 2,352 years.
The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner warned in July that the proceedings raised concerns about the right to a fair trial and judicial independence, noting that İmamoğlu had been prevented from presenting his defense during the first round of hearings.
He was chosen as the presidential candidate of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) after his detention and is now the New Party’s candidate for the next election, scheduled for 2028.
İstanbul University revoked his diploma, the possession of which is a requirement for presidential candidates in Turkey, one day before police detained him, and his effort to overturn the decision was rejected in May.
His arrest in March 2025 triggered Turkey’s largest anti-government protests since the 2013 Gezi Park demonstrations.
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
