İmamoğlu slams new indictment, political ban threat

ISTANBUL

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has reacted to the preparation of a new indictment seeking a political ban against him, following his critical remarks regarding investigations into municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

The indictment prepared on Feb. 17 accuses İmamoğlu of "attempting to influence a judicial officer, expert or witness." It stems from remarks he made at an event on Jan. 27, where he criticized the appointments in probes into CHP-run municipalities and accused a court expert of submitting fraudulent reports in the cases.

"We are living in a period that deeply saddens our nation and is a great black mark on our judicial system. This is the first time our country is experiencing such a reckless period," İmamoğlu said on Feb. 17 at an event in Istanbul.

"Mr. President [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] is behind all of this. The name of the person who is trying to eliminate me from politics is well known."

If accepted by Istanbul's criminal court of first instance, this indictment will increase the number of cases filed against İmamoğlu to four.

In 2022, he was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison for insulting Supreme Election Council (YSK) members, though an appeals court has not yet made a final decision. If the regional court upholds the sentence, the case will be sent to the Court of Appeals, which could result in a political ban for the mayor.

İmamoğlu is also facing legal challenges in another case, related to tender rigging charges during his time as mayor of the Beylikdüzü district.

The case requests a sentence of three to seven years and will be heard again on April 11.

Additionally, İmamoğlu faces another investigation, which could result in up to seven years and four months in prison for comments made about Istanbul’s chief prosecutor Akın Gürlek.

In 2021, İmamoğlu was fined 7,080 Turkish Liras in connection with a case from 2019 in which he was accused of insulting the then-governor of the northeastern city of Ordu. The decision is still pending final approval from the Court of Appeals.

The latest indictment was upheld as İmamoğlu prepares to run in the CHP primaries to determine its presidential candidate on March 23.