Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel on accusations of insulting a panel of judges in remarks he made after the first hearing in the trial of jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Turkish Minute reported.
The Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement on X that it had opened the investigation ex officio after Özel criticized the panel of the İstanbul 40th High Criminal Court during statements to journalists following Monday’s hearing.
Prosecutors said Özel is under investigation for “insult” under Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) over remarks directed at the panel of judges.
The CHP leader delivered the remarks outside the Marmara prison complex in Silivri after attending the first hearing in the sweeping corruption trial of İmamoğlu and hundreds of other defendants.
Özel sharply criticized the conduct of the hearing and the composition of the court panel, arguing that the judges lacked sufficient experience to preside over what he described as one of the most significant political trials in modern Turkish history.
“There are three judges on the bench, and their total seniority amounts to 11 years,” Özel said, adding that two members of the panel had only about two years of judicial experience, having been appointed in May 2024.
He also accused the court of serious procedural failures during the hearing, claiming the judge had even forgotten to conduct a roll call before attempting to begin the proceedings.
According to Özel, confusion deepened after defense lawyers questioned why the order of defendants’ testimony had appeared in the pro-government Yeni Şafak daily before being communicated to the defense team.
Among his most controversial remarks, Özel alleged that the court had been politically engineered and said authorities had effectively sought “a judge whose phone ringtone plays ‘Dombra,’” referring to an election campaign song of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Özel also criticized the judge’s refusal to allow İmamoğlu to speak earlier in the proceedings despite requests from the defense.
“Procedure comes before substance,” he said. “If someone who has been imprisoned for a year asks to speak on procedural grounds, you must give them the floor.”
After watching the proceedings for hours, Özel said he felt “ashamed” as a citizen of Turkey, citing what he described as serious procedural mistakes and an inexperienced court panel.
The investigation comes as the long-awaited corruption trial against İmamoğlu began on Monday.
Detained on March 19 of last year and jailed since then, the mayor faces a sweeping indictment of nearly 4,000 pages in which prosecutors accuse him of running a criminal network and committing a wide range of offenses including corruption, embezzlement and espionage.
Prosecutors are seeking a combined sentence of up to 2,430 years in prison.
İmamoğlu was jailed on the day he was named the presidential candidate of the main opposition CHP.
He is widely seen as one of the only politicians capable of defeating Erdoğan at the ballot box in national elections due before mid-2028.
Since the CHP won a resounding victory in the March 2024 local elections against Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), it has faced a sweeping legal crackdown. Fifteen of its mayors are now behind bars.
Analysts say İmamoğlu almost certainly will not be able to run in the next presidential race.
Even if he were to be cleared of the corruption charges, he is facing an even more significant legal obstacle: a lawsuit challenging the validity of his university degree, a constitutional requirement for presidential candidates.
