Istanbul’s public prosecutor ordered a new judicial investigation against the city’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglou for trying to influence the judiciary because he criticized investigations into opposition-run municipalities, Turkish media reported.

News of the investigation came minutes after Imamoglu accused Erdogan’s government of using the judiciary as a political tool to pressure the opposition.

In a press conference, Imamoglu said the same expert had been appointed to several judicial investigations against him and other mayors in Istanbul who are close to the main opposition party, to which Imamoglu belongs.

The government rejects accusations of political interference in the cases and says the judiciary is independent.

The new investigation, reported by the Anka news agency and other Turkish media, comes a week after a judicial inquiry was launched against Imamoglu for criticizing the Istanbul prosecutor for the brief detention of the head of the CHP’s youth division.

Imamoglu has already been sentenced in 2022 for insulting public officials when he criticized the decision to cancel the first round of the previous municipal elections, in which he defeated the candidate of the ruling AKP Party.

He has appealed the sentence, but if upheld by higher courts he could be banned from politics for five years.

He was re-elected mayor last year when Erdogan’s AKP suffered its worst-ever losses in municipal elections.