Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu went on trial on Monday with more than 400 other defendants accused of widespread corruption. The hearing began in a tense atmosphere, with Imamoglu asking to speak and the panel of judges refusing the request. The judges accused Imamoglu of disrupting the proceedings and then left the courtroom, leading to an adjournment until the afternoon.
Imamoglu has been behind bars for nearly a year and is seen as the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 23-year rule. He was elected as the main opposition party’s candidate for an election due in 2028 just days after he was detained. Imamoglu was arrested almost a year ago shortly before his nomination as the presidential candidate of the opposition party CHP.
His arrest on March 19 last year sparked weeks of street protests, described as the largest seen in Turkey for more than a decade. Imamoglu's arrest triggered the largest wave of protests in Turkey since the so-called Gezi protests of 2013, with almost 2,000 people arrested during the protests. Most of the 402 defendants worked for the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, headed by Imamoglu since 2019.
Many defendants are elected officials from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), while journalists are also among the accused. Imamoglu faces 142 charges, including establishing the 'Imamoglu criminal organization for profit' from 2015, when he was mayor of Istanbul’s Beylikduzu district. The 3,900-page indictment alleges the goal was not just to enrich the accused through a system of bid-rigging and pay-offs but also to finance Imamoglu’s rise in the CHP, ultimately resulting in his presidential candidacy.
If convicted, Imamoglu could face a total prison sentence exceeding 2,000 years. The case is just one of the many indictments in which the 54-year-old mayor could be jailed and banned from politics. Other cases against Imamoglu include claims of terrorism, espionage, falsifying his university diploma and insulting officials.
In what government critics say is a broad judicial campaign against the opposition, elected CHP members, including mayors of other major cities, face separate terrorism and corruption allegations. The CHP’s leadership itself is also under legal pressure over alleged irregularities surrounding its 2023 congress. Critics see the case as a politically motivated move against Turkey’s opposition.
To highlight what they see as the political nature of prosecutions against CHP members, Imamoglu’s supporters and human rights groups point to a series of factors, including the role of Istanbul’s chief prosecutor. Akin Gurlek, the deputy justice minister, was appointed to the office of Istanbul’s chief prosecutor in late 2024, where he initiated a series of investigations. The scale and anticipated length of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality trial, which could run for years, has seen authorities commission the building of a new courtroom at the prison complex in Silivri, west of Istanbul.
Imamoglu and many defendants are held at the prison complex in Silivri. Until the new courtroom is completed, participants will squeeze into an existing chamber at the prison. ' He said, 'So they took me hostage, but what happened?
' Imamoglu holds that political change in Turkey is unstoppable despite the actions against the opposition and is convinced that the government's strategy is not working, despite the pressure and arrests of CHP politicians.