An İstanbul court has set March 9, 2026, for the first hearing in a sweeping case that accuses jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu of “leading a criminal organization.”
The indictment names 407 defendants, including İmamoğlu and municipal officials, contractors and businesspeople tied to the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The court accepted the indictment on November 25.
İmamoğlu, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) for the 2028 election, was detained on March 19, 2025, and jailed pending trial on March 23 in what authorities described as a corruption investigation into the municipality. He was suspended from office, and the municipal council appointed an interim mayor to run the city.
Prosecutors are seeking prison terms that add up to as much as 2,430 years for İmamoğlu, depending on how counts are applied. Allegations include forming and leading a criminal organization, bribery, fraud aimed at harming public bodies, laundering illegal funds and rigging public tenders, along with counts tied to personal data, concealment of evidence and damage to public property.
The case is set to be heard in Silivri, a district on the western edge of İstanbul that hosts the Marmara prison complex and a prison courtroom used in high-profile trials.
The indictment runs about 3,900 pages and describes İmamoğlu as the “founder and leader” of an alleged criminal structure, according to reporting that summarized the court file. It lists dozens of alleged acts tied to municipal contracts and alleged kickbacks, including repeated counts of bid rigging.
Prosecutors also claim the alleged scheme caused public losses in the billions of lira. İmamoğlu has denied the allegations, and CHP says the case is political.
İmamoğlu is widely viewed as one of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s top rivals who rose to national prominence after winning İstanbul’s mayoral election in 2019.
The CHP has pushed for the hearings to be broadcast live on the TRT state broadcaster, arguing the public should see the evidence and testimony. Erdoğan and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli have both publicly signaled support for televising the proceedings, but Turkey’s parliament rejected a CHP move to advance legislation that would enable live broadcasts of such trials.