Ekrem Imamoglu is in prison on charges that many in Turkey have described as politically motivated. He is one of the main opponents of President Recep Erdoğan.
The former mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, has been sentenced to one year and eight months in prison. Imamoglu is one of the main opponents of President Recep Erdoğan and has been in prison since last March on charges of corruption and aiding the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has since dissolved. The trial is still ongoing, and the sentence instead concerns threatening a public official, after he accused Istanbul's chief prosecutor, Akin Gurlek, of seeking to suppress the opposition.
Imamoglu's arrest had caused profound outrage in Turkey and around the world, and drew widespread accusations of being politically motivated. Over the years, Recep Erdoğan has given his presidency an increasingly authoritarian character, silencing dissidents and opposition figures.
Ekrem Imamoglu until last March was mayor of Istanbul, serving his second term. A prominent figure in the Republican People's Party (CHP) and considered one of the main opponents of authoritarian President Recep Erdoğan, he had expressed his intention to run in the 2028 presidential election, backed by growing popular support.
On 19 March he was arrested along with around a hundred other people, including some of his aides, colleagues and journalists, as part of an operation carried out by police on orders from the prosecutor's office of the Turkish metropolis. Imamoglu was charged with bid-rigging fraud, corruption and aiding the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which in the intervening months renounced armed struggle and dissolved.
Imamoglu's arrest appeared to be driven by political motives and triggered deep protests and demonstrations in Turkey and beyond. Over the years, President Erdoğan has had thousands of dissidents and political opponents arrested, also targeting independent media outlets.
Last January, Ekrem Imamoglu, who is currently in prison and still on trial and has described the proceedings against him as "illegal", accused Istanbul's chief prosecutor, Akin Gurlek, of pursuing opposition members and acting in a politically motivated manner. Now a sentence of one year and eight months has been handed down for those statements.
The prosecutor had sought a sentence of more than seven years, which would have barred him from public office, since this occurs automatically in cases of convictions exceeding two years. The penalty handed down is lower than that threshold, but rulings on the more serious charges in his trial have yet to come. The risk is that Imamoglu could be barred from the 2028 presidential race.
