Turkish prosecutors have charged Istanbul Mayor, Ekrem ̇mamoğlu with 142 offenses that could carry a sentence of hundreds of years in prison if he is incarcerated, court documents show.
The nearly 4,000-page document accuses the popular opposition figure, who was arrested on March 19, with violations, embezzlement, and embezzlement.
State News Agency Amaadolu said prosecutors would seek prison sentences of up to 2,430 years behind bars if he is found guilty.
The arrest of İmamoğlu, the main political opponent of the President, Recep Tayyip Eroğan, was met with anger from the main demonstrations in Turkey. This is the worst street fight from 2013.
The indictment was filed in an Istanbul Court on Tuesday and a court date should be set later.
̇Mamoğlu, who was the mayor of Turkey’s largest city until the arrest, faces allegations that include his university degree, which could lead to his university degree running for election due in 2028.
According to the indictment, which names 402 suspects, İmamoğlu said in a flowing crime network that he expressed his influence “like an octopus”.
In a speech in Parliament on Tuesday, the head of the Chp, Özgür özel, said that İmamoğlu is the Party’s candidate in the next Presidential vote.
“Can a person be an election officer, hold an established order and be a thief, a terrorist and a spy at the same time?” He said a few hours before releasing the accusation.
“If you charge an innocent person with just one of these crimes, it’s a great injustice. But if you put all of them on one person, it’s a major crime running for the presidency of this country,” he said.
As well as the indictment, the prosecutors said they have papers with the purkey court tops against the Chp, which the observers said to close the party.
In a separate statement, the IStanbul prosecutor’s Office confirmed that it had informed the court about some irregularities but denied reports that it intended to shut down the party.
The CHP has been under increasing pressure since it won control of Turkey’s largest cities in local elections in March 2024. Since then, 16 of its mayors have been jailed.
In October, an Ankara court dismissed a case challenging the legitimacy of the Party’s 2023 leadership outcome, saying there was no legal basis to remove the current leadership from office.
The move may not be unseated Özel, who himself faces several charges including one for insulting the President.