İmamoğlu's lawyer: This is a conspiracy against the people of Istanbul

Fikret İlkiz, the lawyer for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was arrested as part of a "corruption" investigation into the municipality, emphasized that the process is politically motivated.

İmamoğlu, who is the President of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye and the CHP's presidential primary candidate, was detained within the scope of an investigation launched on March 19. On the evening of March 22, he was sent to Silivri Prison after being arrested by the court on charges of "rigging tenders, recording personal data, bribery, and establishing an organization."

In a statement to Euronews Turkish, İmamoğlu's lawyer Fikret İlkiz shared İmamoğlu's assessments regarding the arrest. Noting that İmamoğlu primarily draws attention to the political nature of the decision, İlkiz said, "This is a political accusation. This is a conspiracy set up not against me, but against the people of Istanbul. It carries a political purpose."

THE ARREST DECISION WILL BE APPEALED

İlkiz also provided information regarding the legal process. He stated that as a first step, they will appeal the arrest decision issued against İmamoğlu within this week. Stating that it is not possible to give a definitive timeline for the trial process, İlkiz said, "It is difficult to predict how long it will take for an indictment to be prepared in such cases in Türkiye. It could be filed in a month, or it could be filed tomorrow. This is entirely at the discretion of the prosecutor's office."

WHAT HAPPENED?

İmamoğlu had been released without judicial control measures in a "terrorism" investigation within the scope of the "urban consensus." In the judge's decision, it was stated that since it was decided that İmamoğlu would be arrested as part of the investigation conducted on corruption allegations, there was no need for the arrest measure at this stage, even though there was strong suspicion of a crime.

News Source: 12punto