A Turkish court sentenced the mayor of Istanbul to prison and prevented him from practicing politics after convicting him of insulting officials
A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced the popular opposition mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, to nearly three years in prison after convicting him of insulting officials, which effectively prevents him from practicing politics.
His lawyer confirmed that he would appeal the ruling, which means that he will remain in the position of mayor, but he is now excluded from the presidential elections scheduled for next year.
The case dates back to a statement issued by Imamoglu after he defeated the candidate of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party in the controversial 2019 municipal elections.
Persons sentenced to less than four years in prison are rarely sent to prison in Türkiye.
“This is an unfortunate approach to democracy and the rule of law,” his lawyer, Kemal Polat, told AFP.
Imamoglu (52 years old) defeated Erdogan’s party in March 2019 by winning the mayoralty of Istanbul, which was led by the ruling Justice and Development Party for 25 years.
The government canceled Imamoglu’s election, but he returned and won by a large margin in the run-off elections after about three months.
A few months later, Ekrem Imamoglu considered those who annulled his election victory stupid, echoing a phrase that Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu used against him a few hours earlier.
This description exposed the mayor of Istanbul to prosecution for insulting members of the Supreme Electoral Council.
