Turkish court orders jai of Istanbul Mayor

A Turkish court sentenced Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu to jail on Wednesday and imposed a political ban.

Imamoglu was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison along with the ban, both of which must be confirmed by an appeals court, for insulting public officials in a speech he made after he won Istanbul’s municipal election in 2019.

Ahead of the verdict, a few thousand Imamoglu supporters rallied outside the municipality headquarters on the European side of the city after Imamoglu called on Twitter for them to gather.

Across the Bosphorus on the Asian side of the city of 17 million people, riot police were stationed outside the courthouse, although Imamoglu continued to work as usual, dismissing the court proceedings.

“Such a handful of people cannot take the authority given by the people. Our struggle is beginning to get even stronger, with God’s permission,” Imamoglu said in a brief video shared on a muncipality website.

The ruling comes just six months ahead of scheduled presidential and parliamentary elections, in which Imamoglu has been mooted as a possible candidate but a main opposition presidential candidate has not yet been chosen.

Imamoglu, from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was tried over a speech after Istanbul elections when he said those who annulled the initial vote – in which he narrowly defeated a candidate from the AK Party – were “fools”.

Imamoglu says that remark was a response to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu for using the same language against him.

A jail sentence or political ban would need to be upheld in appeals courts, potentially extending an outcome to the case beyond the election due by June.

“The ruling will be final only after the higher court decides whether to uphold the ruling or not. Under these circumstances, it would be wrong to say that the political ban is in place,” Timucin Koprulu, professor of criminal law at Atilim University in Ankara, told Reuters after the ruling.

Responding to the verdict, Imamoglu said a jail sentence was political and unlawful, and a sign of current conditions in the country.

Reuters