Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu in court as Turkish opposition fears crackdown

Ekrem Imamoglu denies charges that helium tried to power Turkiye’s judiciary successful remarks helium made astir officials.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a starring absorption fig and imaginable challenger to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has appeared successful tribunal to contradict charges that helium tried to power the judiciary.

Imamoglu, 53, appeared successful Istanbul’s Caglayan courthouse connected Friday to look charges of threatening, insulting and targeting an authoritative and attempting to power a trial.

“I did not prosecute successful immoderate actions targeting immoderate individual. It is intolerable for maine to enactment successful specified a way. I bash not judge the charges against me,” Imamoglu told prosecutors.

The charges were brought implicit Imamoglu’s disapproval of ineligible cases brought against municipalities tally by the opposition, including his ain Republican People’s Party (CHP). His grounds related to remarks helium made astir a main authoritative and a tribunal expert.

The lawsuit against him is the latest successful a bid of ineligible challenges faced by absorption politicians successful Turkiye, wherever rights groups said judicial independency has eroded during Erdogan’s two-decade rule.

Imamoglu has already been convicted of charges of insulting members of Turkiye’s Supreme Electoral Council and faces a governmental prohibition if his condemnation successful 2022 is upheld connected appeal. He is besides connected proceedings connected charges that helium was progressive successful the alleged rigging of bids successful a tender dating backmost to 2015.

Thousands of his supporters gathered extracurricular the tribunal connected Friday to protestation against the ineligible actions against Imamoglu.

Tensions escalated erstwhile riot constabulary blocked a CHP autobus from approaching the courthouse. The determination led to clashes betwixt the protesters and police, who responded with teardrop gas. It was not wide if immoderate arrests were made.

Imamoglu aboriginal addressed the crowds from the apical of the autobus astatine different location.

“Today’s contented is … an contented of seeking rights and justice,” the politician said. “Unfortunately, today’s contented stems from a conspiracy that is being acceptable up against Istanbul.”

Ankara’s absorption politician Mansur Yavas, who was determination to enactment Imamoglu, besides accused the authorities of turning Turkiye into an “open prison”.

Turkish authorities regularly people captious journalists, lawyers and elected governmental representatives with transgression charges, particularly since a failed 2016 coup against Erdogan’s government.

“The authorities is trying to bounds the abstraction for opponents, including journalists, and intimidate them with unfair accusations,” Fethi Kocaer, 71, who was successful the assemblage extracurricular the court, told the AFP quality agency. He held a banner reading: “We volition combat together.”

“Mayor Imamoglu’s courageousness and beardown stance volition assistance unite us. We volition not springiness up but volition measurement up the combat against injustice.”

Imamoglu was archetypal elected to pb Istanbul successful March 2019. His triumph was a stroke to Erdogan’s Justice and Development (AK) Party, which on with predecessor enactment had controlled Istanbul for a 4th of a century.

The AK Party pushed to void the municipal predetermination results successful the metropolis of 16 cardinal people, alleging irregularities. The situation resulted successful a repetition of the predetermination a fewer months later, which Imamoglu besides won.

Imamoglu was re-elected politician of Turkiye’s’s largest metropolis past year.

Turkish authorities person removed a fig of elected mayors from the CHP and pro-Kurdish parties successful caller years, saying they were linked to “terrorism”-related investigations.

Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkiye manager astatine Human Rights Watch, said connected Friday that the signifier of removing mayors and appointing authorities trustees was undermining democracy.

“This is simply a large battle connected the rights of voters to elite their chosen representatives and a usurpation of the close to escaped and just elections,” Sinclair-Webb told the Reuters quality agency.

“At a clip erstwhile the authorities is talking astir resolving the Kurdish conflict, it is dismaying and bewildering to spot these crackdown measures proceed against democratically elected officials. This signifier flies successful the look of immoderate affirmative solution to the conflict,” she added.