Deposed Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu appeared in court in Turkey on Monday in a new trial in which he and three other defendants face charges of "political espionage," according to state news agency Anadolu.
Prosecutors allege that information from the Istanbul city administration was passed to foreign intelligence services to influence the election campaign in favour of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), according to the news agency.
All four defendants face prison sentences of up to 20 years and are currently in pre-trial detention. They deny the charges.
İmamoğlu decries 'judicial murder'
İmamoğlu criticized the charges against him and other city administration employees as defamatory, saying they were driven by a mentality of fear for one's own position and of a potential defeat in political competition. According to the opposition daily Cumhuriyet, İmamoğlu called the indictment "an outright judicial murder."
İmamoğlu was first elected mayor of Istanbul in 2019. Last March he was jailed on corruption charges and removed from office. He was also stripped of his university degree, a requirement for standing as a presidential candidate. He is considered a strong potential challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The opposition regards the proceedings against İmamoğlu as politically motivated and sees them as an attempt to exclude him from political competition. The government denies this. The moves against İmamoğlu triggered nationwide protests.
Multiple trials
The main trial against İmamoğlu - in which he and more than 400 other defendants are charged with forming a criminal organization and corruption - also continued on Monday, with simultaneous hearings in another courtroom of the Silivri prison complex.
That trial began in March, after İmamoğlu was removed from office as mayor of Istanbul and arrested in March 2025.
In his defence, İmamoğlu referred to the parallel proceedings, saying all these cases were purely political and were being conducted to the detriment of the people, out of self-interested motives. The real target of the proceedings should be the prosecuting party, Cumhuriyet quoted the politician as saying.
The indictment accuses İmamoğlu, his campaign adviser Necati Özkan, businessman Hüseyin Gün and journalist Merdan Yanardağ of operating a criminal network and passing data on Turkish citizens to foreign intelligence services.
The alleged aim was to influence the 2019 election campaign, in which the CHP won the mayoral office in Istanbul, ending 15 years of rule by Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Prosecutors specifically allege that İmamoğlu gave instructions for the collection of data which was analysed and passed to former CIA and Mossad employees. His campaign adviser Özkan is alleged to have gathered confidential data via the city administration's portal and passed it to businessman Gün.
Businessman considers allegations 'baseless'
The defendants denied the charges in the espionage case at the first hearing. Gün spoke first, saying the allegations against him were "nothing more than baseless defamation based on an old enmity and jealousy," Anadolu reported.
According to the indictment, Gün is regarded as the main contact with foreign intelligence services. He is also alleged to have organized disinformation campaigns to discredit the government and smooth İmamoğlu's path to the CHP leadership and the presidency.
Prosecutors further allege that he paid Yanardağ, editor-in-chief of the opposition broadcaster Tele1, to secure media support.
According to Cumhuriyet, Gün told the court: "My aim was to share my thoughts with Mr Yanardağ. Neither an instruction, nor a request, nor an order — that is not my place."
A court-appointed administrator was installed at Tele1 in October following Yanardağ's arrest, and the broadcaster is now to be auctioned off.
