İmamoğlu faces up to 2,000 years in prison in graft case
ISTANBUL
Prosecutors have completed an indictment against the Istanbul Municipality and its mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and submitted it to the court, seeking up to more than 2,000 years in prison for the mayor, in a wide-ranging corruption probe.
İmamoğlu, a leading figure in the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has been in imprisoned since March over the corruption inquiry.
After a roughly eight-month investigation, prosecutors finalized the 3,900-page indictment, Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek told reporters at a press conference on Nov. 11.
Gürlek said 402 suspects are named in the file, including 105 currently under arrest.
The indictment identifies İmamoğlu as the “founder and leader of the criminal organization.”
Prosecutors are seeking sentences ranging from 828 years and 2 months to 2,430 years for İmamoğlu, Gürlek said.
Some 142 counts of alleged wrongdoing filed against İmamoğlu.
The suspects face charges including forming and leading a criminal organization, accepting and giving bribes and money laundering.
“The opening section of the indictment explains the structure and diagram of the criminal organization. There are six organization leaders. Most of the digital evidence has been deciphered. Since Ekrem İmamoğlu is defined as an organization leader, he is held responsible for other individuals’ crimes as well,” Gürlek said.
He added that prosecutors are requesting multiple counts of punishment for several offenses attributed to İmamoğlu — including 12 counts of bribery and seven counts of laundering criminal proceeds.
The chief prosecutor also shared a diagram allegedly detailing how what he described as the criminal network operated.
“There are both secret and regular witnesses in the indictment. More than 70 individuals have cooperated with prosecutors,” the chief prosecutor said.
According to the indictment, the alleged public loss amounts to 160 billion Turkish Liras (($3.81 billion) and additional 24 million U.S. dollars, as well as 95 immovable assets, though Gürlek noted these were not calculated at current market value.
The alleged crimes reportedly span a 10-year period, he said.
Gürlek added that investigators were examining how the organization generated illicit proceeds and inflicted public damage, including claims of misuse of foreign loans.
The next step is that the court will accept the indictment and set a trial date.
İmamoğlu, Beylikdüzü Mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık and numerous senior municipal officials have been accused of accepting bribes and engaging in corruption through municipal subsidiaries since March.
The CHP has condemned the case as a politically motivated attempt to target the widely popular mayor.
İmamoğlu faces several probes, including those over espionage claims, alleged forgery of his university diploma, insulting an expert witness and other offenses — some carrying potential prison terms and political bans.
Indictment urges CHP closure
In another aspect of the indicment, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office also urged the Supreme Court of Appeals on the filing of a closure case against the CHP under Article 69 of the Constitution.
The prosecution claimed that public resources were misused for election campaigns and that the proceeds of crimes were transferred to a pool system with the knowledge and approval of the party’s top management.
The party’s senior officials were aware that these funds were proceeds of crimes, the indictment said.
Gürlek also stated that CHP Istanbul MP Turan Taşkın Özer and CHP Deputy Chairman and Istanbul MP Özgür Karabat were listed as suspects and organization members in the file.
The case was therefore forwarded to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office due to lack of jurisdiction.
It was noted that the file was sent with a request for the lifting of the MPs’ parliamentary immunity.
[ Özel reiterates support to İmamoğlu
At around the time the indictment was completed, during a party group meeting in parliament, CHP leader Özgür Özel reiterated his support for Ekrem İmamoğlu.
“What is İmamoğlu’s crime? That he will run for president in the next election,” Özel said, adding that İmamoğlu has committed no offense.
Özel added, “If we don’t stand up to this system today, there will be no judiciary left to defend our rights.”
