‘We are not afraid,’ jailed İstanbul mayor tells court

İstanbul’s jailed opposition mayor on Friday said he was “not afraid” as he denounced the legal case against him as part of a broader campaign of “judicial harassment,” accusing the government of weaponizing the judiciary to silence dissent.

Ekrem İmamoğlu, the key rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, appeared in court on charges of allegedly seeking to influence a fair trial in one of several cases brought against him.

Speaking from a courtroom in Silivri on the western outskirts of İstanbul, where İmamoğlu has been held since March, he dismissed the charges as politically motivated and described the case against him as driven by fear at the highest levels of power.

“This is called ‘Ekrem fear,'” he said, addressing the judge directly. “People love me — but one person, clearly, is afraid,” he added, in a pointed reference to Erdogan.

“They see us as a threat — they are afraid of the name Ekrem İmamoğlu.”

İmamoğlu, 54, was standing trial over remarks he made at a January press conference about a court-appointed expert witness involved in cases against town halls run by his main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

Friday’s trial was part of several investigations targeting İmamoğlu, the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential election, but it is not connected to the corruption probe that led to his arrest in March, which sparked Turkey’s worst street protests in over a decade.

Prosecutors called for İmamoğlu to face up to four years behind bars in that particular case and be subjected to a political ban.

While İmamoğlu faces a high-profile legal battle, his CHP is also under mounting pressure, with a wave of arrests and legal challenges even aimed at its leadership.

“Turkey is facing a regime and a president that instrumentalize the judiciary to eliminate dissidents and those who think differently — through pre-dawn operations and arbitrary detentions,” İmamoğlu told the judge.

“I will fight against them. For the past 11 months, we have been subjected to operations driven by a mindset that controls the judiciary from Ankara,” he said, referring to Erdoğan’s government.

But İmamoğlu said he would remain defiant.

“They are attacking the CHP, trying to shut it down, using the judiciary as a tool. Let them attack. We are not afraid, and we will not be afraid,” he said.

“Every system built on injustice has collapsed, and this one will collapse, too. I trust in this nation.”

İmamoğlu’s wife, Dilek Kaya, and other party members were also at the hearing to support the mayor.

CHP leader Özgür Özel accused the judiciary of attempting to sideline the party’s presidential hopeful through a barrage of trials.

“All of these trials are aimed at keeping our presidential candidate in prison,” he told journalists after the hearing.

The judge said the next hearing was scheduled for December 12.

‘President İmamoğlu!’

İmamoğlu walked into the courtroom to a standing ovation and applause from defense lawyers, party supporters and the audience.

“President İmamoğlu!” they shouted.

With dossiers in hand, İmamoğlu waved at the audience.

In relation to Friday’s trial, İmamoğlu’s office said that although Istanbul has 8,806 registered expert witnesses, the same individual was appointed to 24 separate cases involving CHP municipalities.

They described the statistical likelihood of this as “zero,” which they said raised concerns over judicial impartiality.

In court, İmamoğlu blasted it as “a case with no solid basis at all.”

In his defense, İmamoğlu also referred to Erdoğan’s meeting on Thursday at the White House with US President Donald Trump, who thanked the Turkish leader for helping secure the release of a US pastor in 2018.

He said this was a clear example of how Erdoğan’s government uses the judiciary as a tool and added this should profoundly sadden “every member of the esteemed judiciary.”

“Has history ever recorded a more direct intervention than this?”

© Agence France-Presse