An Istanbul court on Nov. 25 approved an indictment prepared by prosecutors in a sweeping corruption investigation targeting the municipality involving jailed mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, marking the latest development in the high-profile case.
The indictment, reviewed by the 40th High Criminal Court, laid out corruption allegations against 402 suspects — 105 of whom are under arrest.
The court’s approval on Nov. 25 indicated that the indictment meets procedural requirements and that the case is ready to proceed to trial.
The next step for the court will be to set a date for the first hearing.
The indictment, submitted to the court on Nov. 11, described İmamoğlu — who has been in pre-trial detention since March — as the “founder and leader of the organization for profit.”
According to the state-run Anadolu Agency, the charges brought against him carry a potential sentence of up to 2,430 years in prison. Some 142 counts of alleged wrongdoing have been filed against İmamoğlu.
İmamoğlu has denied all accusations, while the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) maintains that the operation is politically motivated.
Reacting to the indictment, CHP Chair Özgür Özel said, “This is not an indictment; it is a memorandum issued by coup plotters against politics.”
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.
In another aspect of the corruption indictment, 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.
