Trial opens for students, journalists over protests
ISTANBUL
Dozens of people including students and journalists appeared before a court in Istanbul on April 18, accused of attending banned demonstrations and disobeying police orders to disperse during protests that were triggered by the jailing of the city’s mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
İmamoğlu, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was detained on March 19 and jailed days later on corruption charges.
His imprisonment sparked nationwide protests, as large crowds took to the streets, defying the governor offices’ ban on public gatherings in several cities and leading to several detentions.
A total of 189 defendants, most of them university students, began defending themselves over charges of participating in banned protests and non-compliance with orders to disperse in the first trial.
Some have also been charged with carrying arms.
Four photojournalists and three reporters who were covering the demonstrations were also on trial.
The court, however, on April 18 decided to separate their case from the main trial. During the opening hearing, lawyers demanded acquittal for all 189 defendants.
The defendants are among the more than 2,000 people detained for taking part in the protests.
A large number of students who were arrested have recently been released, with around 50 still in custody.
Top official released, placed under house arrest
In the meantime, Murat Abbas, one of the key figures in the corruption investigation, was released from prison on April 18, nearly a month after he was imprisoned. Abbas is the head of the municipality’s cultural affair division, the key entity under investigation.
While transitioning from prison to house arrest, the authorities also imposed a travel ban on Abbas.
During his arrest, he provided testimony under the concept of "effective repentance," a practice in Turkish legal proceedings that allows a suspect to receive a sentence reduction if they offer a full confession on the probe.
