Turkish prosecutors on Tuesday 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, who has been detained for nearly eight months after his arrest and suspension from office in March, is regarded as one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s most serious rivals. His detention in March sparked large protests.
A nearly 4,000-page indictment lists offenses including running a criminal organization, bribery, embezzlement, extortion and tender rigging. Imamoglu, a member of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), is in pre-trial detention on the corruption charges and is also serving a separate sentence of one year and eight months for allegedly insulting and threatening Istanbul’s chief prosecutor.
The corruption case is one of several legal actions against him. Last month prosecutors filed espionage charges, accusing him of passing on residents’ personal data to secure foreign funding for a presidential campaign. He also faces accusations of forging diploma documents and additional charges of insulting the chief prosecutor.
Critics say the prosecutions are intended to sideline Imamoglu after his party’s strong showing in last year’s local elections. The government maintains the judiciary is independent and says the investigations are meant only to uncover corruption or other wrongdoing.
Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko
