A sweeping indictment has been filed against Istanbul’s jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in which he has been accused of 142 offences tied to corruption and organised crime.
The city’s chief public prosecutor is seeking a total prison sentence exceeding 2,000 years for Mr Imamoglu.
Imamoglu, a leading opposition figure widely seen as a key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was arrested in March alongside several municipal officials.
They were accused of operating a criminal organisation, bribery, extortion, and bid-rigging – charges the mayor vehemently denies.
Critics widely interpret these accusations as a politically driven attempt to undermine the primary opposition, with his initial arrest sparking Turkey’s most significant public demonstrations in more than a decade.
Chief prosecutor Akin Gurlek said the indictment is 3,900 pages and names 402 suspects including Mr Imamoglu as the chief suspect, Turkish media reports said.
Mr Imamoglu was charged with organising a criminal group, 12 counts of bribery, seven counts of money laundering and seven counts of fraud, according to Mr Gurlek’s office.
Additionally, he is held responsible for multiple crimes allegedly committed by others including bribery, fraud and tender-rigging.
A trial date is expected to be set once the court formally accepts the indictment.
If convicted of all charges, he could be sentenced to 2,352 years in prison, according to the indictment.
“This case is not legal – it is entirely political. Its aim is to stop the Republican People’s Party, which came first in the last elections, and to block its presidential candidate,” the party’s chairman, Ozgur Ozel, said on X.
“What happened today is a blatant judicial intervention in democratic politics and the outcome of future elections.”
The corruption case is one of several legal proceedings targeting Mr Imamoglu.
Last month, prosecutors filed espionage charges against him related to an investigation of his political campaign and a businessman arrested in July for reportedly conducting intelligence activities on behalf of foreign governments.
