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Turkish prosecutors have charged Istanbul’s jailed mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu with 142 offences that could carry a penalty of hundreds of years in prison if he is convicted, court documents show.
The nearly 4,000-page indictment charges the popular opposition figure, who was arrested on 19 March, with offences including running a criminal organisation, bribery, embezzlement, money laundering, extortion and tender rigging.
The state news agency Anadolu said prosecutors would be asking for prison sentences that could amount to up to 2,430 years behind bars if he is found guilty.
The arrest of İmamoğlu, the main political rival of the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was met with outrage from the main opposition CHP party and prompted widespread demonstrations across Turkey. It was the country’s worst bout of street unrest since 2013.
The indictment was filed with an Istanbul court on Tuesday and a court date was to be set later.
İmamoğlu, who was mayor of Turkey’s largest city until his arrest, is facing a slew of allegations that include espionage and faking his university degree, which could lead to him being banned from running for president in elections due in 2028.
According to the indictment, which names 402 suspects, İmamoğlu allegedly headed of a sprawling crime network over which he exerted his influence “like an octopus”.
In an address to parliament on Tuesday, the CHP head, Özgür Özel, said İmamoğlu would be the party’s candidate in the next presidential vote.
“Can someone be both an electoral fraudster, hold a forged decree and be a thief, a terrorist and a spy all at the same time?” he said several hours before the indictment was released.
“If you accused an innocent person of just one of these crimes, it would be a great injustice. But when you put all of them on one person, it’s a major crime … But his only crime is running for the presidency of this country,” he said.
Also in the indictment, prosecutors said they had filed papers with Turkey’s top appeals court against the CHP, which observers said could pave the way for the party’s closure.
In a separate statement, the Istanbul prosecutor’s office confirmed it had informed the court about certain irregularities but denied reports it was seeking to have the party shut down.
The CHP has been under increasing pressure since it won control of Turkey’s largest cities in local elections in March 2024. Since then, 16 of its mayors have been jailed.
In October, an Ankara court dismissed a case challenging the legitimacy of the outcome of the party’s 2023 leadership primary, saying there was no legal basis for removing the current leadership from office.
The move could have unseated Özel, who is himself facing a number of lawsuits including one for insulting the president.
