Court restricts public access in İmamoğlu case after courtroom dispute

ISTANBUL

A Turkish court has imposed new restrictions on attendance in the ongoing trial involving Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and hundreds of co-defendants, following disruptions over seating arrangements that led to an abrupt adjournment of the previous hearing.

Alongside İmamoğlu, who was jailed pending trial in March 2025, several other mayors from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) are also defendants in the case.

Expected to last more than a month and a half, the case, which involves 407 defendants, entered its sixth day on March 17.

However, the court’s latest decision to limit who can enter the courtroom has drawn attention to mounting tensions surrounding the trial.

After the fifth hearing on March 16 ended prematurely due to what local media described as a “seating crisis,” the court sent a formal request to the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, asking for measures to regulate courtroom attendance.

Citing the need to ensure an orderly and effective trial process, the court ruled that only defendants, their lawyers, complainants and complainants’ legal representatives would be allowed into the courtroom for future sessions. Accredited journalists will still be permitted to follow the proceedings under previously defined conditions.

The decision has left uncertainty over whether opposition lawmakers, particularly from the CHP, will be allowed to attend upcoming sessions as observers.

The restrictions come after repeated disruptions during recent hearings, particularly over seating arrangements in the courtroom.

During the March 16 session, additional security measures were already in place, including blocking vehicle access within 500 meters of the venue and limiting entry to holders of official press cards.

Tensions rose shortly after the hearing began when the presiding judge warned that some lawmakers were seated in the section reserved for defense lawyers.

Among them was CHP Istanbul MP Turan Taşkın Özer, who reportedly wore a lawyer’s robe and challenged the restriction, asking under which law he was prohibited from sitting there.

When asked by the judge whether he had formal legal authorization to act as counsel, Özer replied that he did not.

He refused to move, prompting the judge to postpone the session to March 17 without starting.

The trial is set to resume on March 17 with defense arguments from lawyers representing Ümit Polat, a procurement manager at a municipal subsidiary who is among the detained defendants.