Turkish prosecutors have filed 142 charges against Istanbul’s jailed mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, in a 4,000-page indictment that could see him sentenced to more than 2,400 years in prison.
The popular opposition figure, arrested on March 19, is accused of leading a criminal organisation and faces charges including bribery, embezzlement, money laundering, extortion, and tender rigging. Prosecutors claim İmamoğlu controlled a vast crime network “like an octopus.”
His arrest, widely condemned by Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has sparked the country’s largest protests since 2013.
Many see the case as a politically motivated move ahead of upcoming elections, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan likely to benefit.
