Istanbul public prosecutor calls for custody for İmamoğlu

The Istanbul public prosecutor has requested custody for the arrested mayor and Erdogan rival Ekrem İmamoğlu. The state news agency Anadolu reported. İmamoğlu is now to be brought before a judge.

The CHP politician is blamed in two separate procedures related to terrorism and corruption. According to Anadolu, custody was requested in both cases. Specifically, the corruption determination is about suspicion of membership in a criminal association, extortion, bribery, fraud and tender manipulation. The terrorist investigation is therefore about accusation of support for the forbidden Kurdish Workers' Party PKK. İmamoğlu vehemently denies the allegations.

Critics see the government's attempt to eliminate a political opponent behind the procedure against İmamoğlu and consider the allegations to be faked. The protest on the streets is also explicitly directed against the government. İmamoğlu is considered a promising competitor of the ruling President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the upcoming presidential election. Despite his arrest, the Mayor of Istanbul should be nominated by the opposition CHP to the presidential candidate on Sunday.

In the nationwide vote on the candidacy İmamoğlus, in addition to 1.7 million party members of the CHP, citizens are also called up to symbolically coordinated at 4,000 election boxes in the country. İmamoğlu is the only candidate. The result pronouncement is expected on Sunday evening.

The Mayor of Istanbul was arrested on Wednesday. His planned candidacy was already certain. However, the official candidate is only İmamoğlu when the Turkish election authority YSK, which is considered by the government, confirms its candidacy. If the terrorist investigation has not been given up by then, the assumption of its candidacy is unlikely. In addition, the university degree was revoked on Tuesday. The decision is not yet final. A conclusion is a prerequisite for a presidential candidacy in Turkey.

IMAMOğLU himself said until the night of the public prosecutor, as several media reported. He should then be demonstrated to a judge for the statement. It is uncertain whether the order of a pre -trial detention will follow on the judge's appointment.

Previously, İmamoğlu had been asked about the allegations for several hours on a police station on Saturday. “The immoral and baseless accusations raised against me, the reports of invented reports extend to the time of the investigation, aim to undermine my reputation and credibility,” said İmamoğlu through the city administration.

On Saturday, too, tens of thousands of people were on the streets nationwide to protest against İmamoğlu's arrest. In Istanbul and Ankara, the police used pepper spray against demonstrators.

The Turkish media supervision RTÜK, meanwhile, threatened the media in the country in the event of “untrue reporting” with punishments and licensing. “We are again asking the media not to rely on party and untrue reporting, but only to publish official information and explanations from the responsible authorities,” the head of the institution, Ebubekir Sahin, wrote on the X. Otherwise measures would be taken to “reach for long -term transmission bans and ultimately even take the license withdrawal”. He expresses “one last reminder”. According to reports, some broadcasters hired their live reporting from demonstrations in the country.

Ilhan Tasci, a member of the media supervision for the opposition, wrote on the platform X, Sahin had overruled the freedom of the press in the country.

The protests themselves are prohibited in several cities. The Istanbul governor's office recently tightened and extended the protest bans. Now access restrictions also apply to the city, as can be seen from a message from the office. People who want to take part in demonstrations should no longer be let into the city. How this should be implemented was initially unclear.

In addition to demonstrations and meetings, the hanging up of posters, distributing flyers, gathering of signatures or memorial events are prohibited. According to the notification, all measures apply for the time being until midnight on Wednesday.