{"id":37234,"date":"2026-03-10T21:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/37234\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T21:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:53:10","slug":"prosecutors-launch-probe-targeting-people-who-photographed-imamoglu-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/37234\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutors launch probe targeting people who photographed \u0130mamo\u011flu trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Turkish prosecutors on Tuesday launched a second criminal investigation in as many days stemming from the corruption trial of jailed \u0130stanbul Mayor Ekrem \u0130mamo\u011flu, this time targeting people who took photographs or videos inside the courtroom and shared them on social media, Turkish Minute<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

The Bak\u0131rk\u00f6y Chief Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office said it had opened an ex-officio investigation under Article 286 of the Turkish Penal Code against individuals who \u201crecorded audio or video without authorization during the prosecution proceedings\u201d and shared the material online. The office instructed \u0130stanbul police cybercrime units to identify the suspects.<\/p>\n

The move came one day after the same prosecutor\u2019s office launched an investigation into main opposition Republican People\u2019s Party (CHP) leader \u00d6zg\u00fcr \u00d6zel for remarks he made criticizing the three-judge panel presiding over \u0130mamo\u011flu\u2019s trial. \u00d6zel faces accusations of insulting the judges after he told journalists the panel lacked experience and alleged the court had been politically engineered.<\/p>\n

Turkish law prohibits unauthorized recording in courtrooms, though enforcement is typically selective. The prosecution of people who share courtroom images on social media is relatively rare in routine criminal cases but more common in politically sensitive trials where authorities seek to control the narrative.<\/p>\n

\u2018This has been political from the very beginning\u2019<\/p>\n

The second day of \u0130mamo\u011flu\u2019s trial on Monday featured an impassioned speech by the mayor, who told the court he is \u201ctroubled\u201d by facing a potential 3,000-year sentence and accused prosecutors of running a politically motivated case designed to eliminate him from presidential contention.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a political case,\u201d \u0130mamo\u011flu said from the defendant\u2019s bench. \u201cThe mayor of 16 million \u0130stanbul residents is here, before you, in your presence. A person whom 15.5 million people voted for as the presidential candidate of Turkey\u2019s leading party; a person who received 25.1 million signatures.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was referring to an online primary held on the day of his March 19, 2025, arrest in which supporters cast symbolic votes to demonstrate his popularity despite his detention.<\/p>\n

\u0130mamo\u011flu criticized Ak\u0131n G\u00fcrlek, the former \u0130stanbul chief prosecutor who oversaw the investigation before being appointed justice minister in February. G\u00fcrlek had repeatedly used the metaphor of an \u201coctopus\u201d to describe \u0130mamo\u011flu\u2019s alleged criminal network \u2014 language that first appeared in speeches by President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan months before the indictment was filed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear how the prosecutor-turned-politician who is at the head of this case here, whom I call the \u2018octopus arms,\u2019 sent his regards to Ankara through the octopus\u2019s arms,\u201d \u0130mamo\u011flu said, suggesting the prosecution was coordinated with the government.<\/p>\n

He described his year in detention at Silivri Prison in a one-person cell, saying Monday\u2019s hearing was the first time he had physically embraced his co-defendants since his arrest. \u201cI am in isolation in a 12-square-meter space,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u0130mamo\u011flu appealed to the judges to release dozens of municipal employees and others held in pretrial detention as co-defendants, arguing that prosecutors\u2019 real target is him alone. \u201cThis system\u2019s problem is with me,\u201d he said. \u201cI am here, ready to manage this process with you, ready to defend myself. Let these people be tried without detention. Let mothers see their children. Let the sick receive their treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

He closed by invoking the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the approaching Eid holiday. \u201cPlease, please\u2026 It is the blessed month of Ramadan. Eid is coming. Send my friends home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u0130mamo\u011flu was detained on March 19, 2025, days before the CHP members selected him as their presidential candidate in a future election, along with more than 100 municipal employees and contractors in what prosecutors described as a sweeping corruption investigation.<\/p>\n

He faces charges of leading a criminal organization, embezzlement, bid-rigging, bribery and espionage in an indictment prosecutors say documents a decade-long criminal enterprise operating within the \u0130stanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The indictment characterizes \u0130mamo\u011flu\u2019s lawful political ambitions as criminal in nature.<\/p>\n

Of the 407 defendants named in the case, 107 are in pretrial detention. \u0130mamo\u011flu\u2019s lead defense attorney, Mehmet Pehlivan, was arrested as a co-defendant in June 2025 and is being tried alongside his client, a move Human Rights Watch called retaliation designed to restrict \u0130mamo\u011flu\u2019s ability to mount an effective defense.<\/p>\n

The trial began March 9 and is expected to last 45 days of daily hearings. \u0130mamo\u011flu, who became \u0130stanbul mayor in 2019 after defeating President Erdo\u011fan\u2019s party in a historic upset, is widely regarded as the opposition\u2019s strongest potential challenger to Erdo\u011fan in the presidential election scheduled for 2028.<\/p>\n

The CHP has faced a sweeping legal crackdown since winning the March 2024 local elections. Fifteen of its mayors are now in prison, most on corruption or terrorism charges that rights groups say are politically motivated. Courts have also invalidated CHP party congress results and replaced elected party officials with court-appointed administrators in multiple cities.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors are seeking a combined sentence of up to 2,430 years in prison for \u0130mamo\u011flu across all charges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Turkish prosecutors on Tuesday launched a second criminal investigation in as many days stemming from the corruption trial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[20955,425,17279,21386,21387,1181,427,131,132,155],"class_list":{"0":"post-37234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-stockholm","8":"tag-2028-presidential-elections","9":"tag-democracy","10":"tag-ibb-trial","11":"tag-imamoglu-trial","12":"tag-independence-of-judiciary","13":"tag-istanbul-mayor-ekrem-imamoglu","14":"tag-justice","15":"tag-stockholm","16":"tag-sweden","17":"tag-turkey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116207105214664702","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}