The mayor of the opposition of Istanbul appeared in court on Friday in one of many cases against him. Hundreds of supporters gathered in front of Silivri's prison west of Istanbul, where the trial took place.
The mayor of the Imamogle Ekrem took place in Silivri from March 23. The case claims that he threatened the prosecutor and is one of the six that precedes his arrest last month, which led to nationwide protests.
Asking the judge, the imamogle said that he was in court because he won three elections against the person “who believes he is the owner of Istanbul”, a reference to President of Repa Tayyip Erdogan, who began his political career as the mayor of the city in the 90s.
The trial was attended by the wife and son of the imamogle, as well as legislators from the Republican People's Party (CHP), Halk TV and other stores. The case was postponed until June 16.
The mayor, who is also the main opposition pretender of the 22-year-old Erdogan government in the next national election, is in the face of more than seven years in prison and a political ban on alleged “targeting, threats and insulting people working in the fight against terrorism.”
The allegation results from the comments he issued on January 20, in which he criticized the Chief Public Prosecutor in Istanbul Akin Gurlek about criminal matters brought against other opposition persons.
The opposition says that politically motivated
Imamoglu was arrested on March 19 in relation to two investigations-one focusing on corruption in the Istanbul commune and subsequent connections of terrorism in the election pact with pro-crux politicians.
Demonstrations calling for his release and ending the democratic retreat of Turkey under Erdogan's rule led to the arrest of about 2,000 people for participating in protests forbidden by the authorities.
Supporters of the popular mayor of Istanbul Imamogle warned with the police riots after his arrest regarding the allegations of corruption and assistance to the terrorist group. Imamoglu, the political rival of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was to operate in the next national elections.
The mayor was officially nominated as a candidate for president of the CHP during custody. The election is to take place in 2028, but they can take place earlier, and the imprisonment of the imamogle was widely seen as politically motivated, although the government insists that the judiciary is independent and free from political influence.
On Friday, two other courts in Istanbul carried out hearings in matters against imamogle.
One of them is a matter that has been reaching for 10 years when he was the mayor of the Beylikduz district in Istanbul. The second claims that the illegal collection of donations and results from a film widespread in previous local elections in last year's local elections showing CHP employees who count the cash beam.
In 2019, Imamoglu was forced to repeat elections to the mayor after the ruling party questioned the first vote on alleged irregularities, and Turkey's election council annulled the results and canceled the mandate of the imamogle after 18 days. Many voters were outraged and won the second voting.