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Turkish prosecutors have filed a nearly 4,000-page indictment against Ekrem Imamoglu, the jailed opposition mayor of Istanbul and main political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The popular mayor, arrested on March 19, is charged with 142 offences, including running a criminal organisation, bribery, money laundering, and extortion. If convicted, the prosecutors are requesting prison sentences totalling up to 2,430 years.
The arrest and subsequent charges have sparked widespread outrage and demonstrations across Türkiye.
The indictment, which also names 402 other suspects, alleges Imamoglu headed a sprawling crime network, exerting influence “like an octopus.”
The opposition CHP party head, Ozgur Ozel, defended Imamoglu in parliament, calling the charges a major crime against an innocent person whose “only crime is running for the presidency.”
Ozel confirmed that Imamoglu will be the party’s candidate in the 2028 presidential election.
The CHP has been under increasing pressure since winning major city elections, with 16 of its mayors already jailed.
Separately, the Istanbul prosecutor’s office reportedly filed documents with the appeals court concerning the CHP itself, although they denied seeking the party’s closure.
