Once the decision is finalized, the mayor of Istanbul will be deprived of his political rights
The Mayor of Constantinople, Ekrem Imamoglou, was sentenced today to 2 years and 7 months in prison, which if finalized will also mean the deprivation of his political rights, as reported by Manolis Kostidis. In this case, he will not be able to be mayor, he will not be able to be elected.
Imamoglu – a figure in the Turkish opposition and a rising star of the Turkish political scene when he was elected in 2019 – was on trial for “insult” and had himself described his trial as “political”, as it was being held just months before Turkey’s June 2023 elections.
BREAKING: #Turkey has sentenced Istanbul mayor and opposition leader #EkremImamoglu for 2 years and 7 months in jail. Trial seen as politically motivated https://t.co/p4fEdOnAPt
— Turkey Pulse (@TurkeyPulse) December 14, 2022
During a previous hearing in November, the prosecutor had asked that Imamoglu be sentenced to 15 months to four years in prison for a comment he made that was considered “insulting” members of Turkey’s Electoral Council.
The Istanbul mayor was among the few opposition leaders polled to beat Erdogan, who faces a severe economic crisis and inflation officially running at around 85 percent.
With Imamoglu now barred from politics, the opposition alliance is in a difficult position as it has yet to name a common candidate for the presidential election, which is due to be held in six months.
The “insult”
Imamoglu was targeted by the regime after he inflicted the most humiliating defeat on Erdogan’s party in March 2019, winning the Istanbul mayoralty, which had been held by the ruling AKP party for 25 years.
His election was initially annulled by the government, which was however forced to back down three months later in the face of an electorate mobilization that gave the opposition an even wider victory.
A few months later Ekrem Imamoglu described as “idiots” those who had canceled his first election and because of this description he is being prosecuted by Turkish justice.
“All I did was to respond, giving him his own terms, to the minister of the interior who had called me an idiot,” the mayor argued.
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With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
