, has called for İstanbul’s jailed mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, and other opposition politicians to be tried without pretrial detention, saying they were arrested on “vague” charges.){kind=link}
Bülent Arınç, a former speaker of the Turkish Parliament, deputy prime minister and a founding member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), has called for İstanbul’s jailed mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, and other opposition politicians to be tried without pretrial detention, saying they were arrested on “vague” charges.
İmamoğlu, a senior member of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and his party’s presidential candidate for the next election, was arrested in March on corruption charges widely criticized as politically motivated. Dozens of other opposition politicians including senior city officials were also arrested as part of the same investigation and other probes that have been targeting CHP-run municipalities for about eight months.
Arınç, who spoke to the Medyascope news website on Monday, criticized Turkey’s use of detention during trials, saying, “We arrest people on such vague charges, expressing regret [over the lengthy detentions] later.”
Referring to İmamoğlu’s case in particular, he said, “If it’s possible to try someone without detaining them, that should be done because sometimes detention ends up being worse than the eventual sentence.”
There are widespread claims that the detention of İmamoğlu, seen as the strongest political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has even led to criticism within the AKP, with some lawmakers warning that it could backfire and increase public support for the jailed mayor.
Arınç, who has also criticized the broad use of pretrial detention on several occasions in the past, added, “Detention is a preventive measure; it should not turn into punishment. Let us not forget that 67 percent of the Constitutional Court’s decisions today concern violations of the right to a fair trial.”
In 2024 Turkey’s Constitutional Court saw a significant increase in individual applications, with 70,699 new cases filed. The court concluded 66,798 applications, while the number of pending applications had reached 98,540 by year’s end. The most frequently violated right identified by the court was the right to a trial within a reasonable period of time, with 56,443 violations. This was followed by the right to a fair trial with 6,828 violations, which many say show persistent problems in Turkey’s judicial system, particularly concerning the length and fairness of legal proceedings.
Arınç also expressed concern about declining public trust in the judiciary. “Judicial independence and impartiality were principles we included in the constitution through a referendum,” he said, referring to a referendum on judicial reforms in 2010.
“Accusations must be made with caution. The presumption of innocence and the right not to be stigmatized must be respected,” he added.
Erdoğan has long been attracting criticism for using the judiciary as a weapon to target his critics and for destroying judicial independence in the country.
The erosion in the rule of law in Turkey worsened after a failed coup in 2016, when more than 4,000 judges and prosecutors were removed under the pretext of an anti-coup fight.
In a development that confirmed the erosion of the Turkish judiciary, Turkey was ranked 117th out of 142 countries in the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index published in October 2024.