The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) urged the ruling bloc on Nov. 18 to approve a bill allowing the trial of jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu to be broadcast on state television.
"Mayor Ekrem says we have nothing to hide, as long as they ask in front of our people… They will be both responsible and disgraced before history," CHP leader Özgür Özel told lawmakers during a weekly meeting in parliament.
Özel was referring to legislation submitted by the CHP two months after İmamoğlu’s arrest in March on corruption charges. The proposed bill would permit state broadcaster TRT to air trials involving elected officials.
"Let’s hear the slander live on air and respond. They won’t be able to prove a single penny," Özel said. "Bring it on. Let’s pass this law this week."
The remarks came hours after Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, a key ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, expressed support for broadcasting İmamoğlu’s trial on TRT.
"Erdoğan was tried for the same crimes. The police never went to his door, never grabbed his arm, and the first stage of the trial was without detention. Even when he was sentenced, he was invited by phone," Özel added.
"Stop holding our friends inside, whose voices are banned in the subways, whose pictures are taken down, who are slandered as a criminal organization even before their trial has begun."
Prosecutors are seeking sentences totaling up to 2,430 years in prison for İmamoğlu. The CHP has denounced the indictment as politically motivated and said it also seeks the party's closure.
