Turkish prosecutors have charged jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu with 142 offenses, saying he could face up to 2,532 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
Imamoglu has been detained for nearly eight months after his arrest and suspension from office in March. He is viewed as one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s most significant political rivals, and his detention prompted large street protests.
A nearly 4,000-page indictment accuses him of running a criminal organization and lists alleged offenses including bribery, embezzlement, extortion and rigging public tenders. Imamoglu, a member of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), is in pre-trial detention on the corruption-related charges and is separately serving a one year and eight month sentence for allegedly insulting and threatening Istanbul’s chief prosecutor.
The corruption case is among several legal actions against him. Prosecutors last month filed espionage charges, alleging he passed residents’ personal data to obtain foreign funding tied to a presidential campaign. He also faces accusations of falsifying diploma documents and additional counts of insulting the chief prosecutor.
Critics argue the prosecutions are politically motivated efforts to sideline Imamoglu after the CHP’s strong performance in last year’s local elections. The government rejects those claims, insisting the judiciary is independent and that the investigations seek to expose corruption or other wrongdoing.