Prosecutor Seeks 2352 Years in Prison for Ekrem İmamoglu

The Chief Prosecutor's Office in Turkey has filed an indictment with the court regarding Ekrem İmamoglu, the Mayor of Istanbul and a presidential candidate for the Republican People's Party (CHP).

The 4,000-page document, released on November 11th, accuses İmamoglu of 142 criminal acts. The prosecutor is asking for a prison sentence of 2,352 years for these alleged crimes.

The indictment lists 402 individuals. Of these, 105 are in custody, 170 are under judicial control, and 7 are wanted by the authorities.

İmamoglu faces charges that include establishing a criminal organization, accepting bribes, laundering money, fraud, and damaging public property and the environment.

The Prosecutor's Office alleges that İmamoglu caused about 160 billion Turkish Lira in financial losses to the state during his decade-long leadership of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

İmamoglu was detained on March 18th, a day after his university diploma was reportedly revoked, and formally arrested on corruption charges on March 23rd.

During the investigation and court hearings, İmamoglu denied all accusations against him.

These legal actions have taken place after investigations into the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and before the CHP's primary elections for its presidential candidate.

Ekrem İmamoglu has been the Mayor of Istanbul since March 2019 and is viewed as a key political rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey's next presidential election is scheduled for 2028.

Reuters reported that the prosecutor is seeking a long prison sentence for the former mayor of Istanbul, who is accused of leading a corruption scheme that caused billions of lira in damages.

İmamoglu has denied the charges, claiming they are politically motivated. The CHP party calls the accusations nonsense.

Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Akın Gurlek announced the indictment, stating that 402 people, including the former mayor, are accused of criminal organization, bribery, fraud, and tender irregularities. Gurlek said that this network caused 160 billion lira (about $3.8 billion) in damage to the Turkish state over ten years.

Ozgur Çelik, the head of the CHP's Istanbul organization, called the indictment meaningless and shameful on the X platform, arguing that it aims to ruin İmamoglu's presidential hopes.

The Istanbul Municipality and İmamoglu's lawyers have not commented.

The Istanbul prosecutor has also asked the Supreme Court to close the CHP, claiming the party was funded with illegal funds and its activities were prohibited.

İmamoglu has been in custody since March on corruption charges. In July, he received a separate prison sentence for insulting and threatening the chief city prosecutor, a verdict that is being appealed.

The government denies that the accusations are politically motivated, saying that Turkish courts are independent.