Call from İmamoğlu's imprisoned lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan: 'I will not be able to present the defense I spent weeks preparing...'

Mehmet Pehlivan, the imprisoned lawyer for CHP's presidential candidate and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is currently held at Silivri Prison, has issued a new statement.

Reminding that he was unjustly imprisoned, lawyer Pehlivan announced that he would be unable to attend his client İmamoğlu's verdict hearing on July 16.

Stating that he had spent weeks preparing for the hearing in question but would be unable to present his defense due to his imprisonment, Pehlivan issued a call to his colleagues, bar associations, and legal organizations.

Pehlivan said, "Be in Silivri on July 16, tomorrow. If you are there, I am there too."

The full text of Pehlivan's statement is as follows:

"Dear Colleagues,

I have always viewed the legal profession not just as a job, but as a duty of conscience toward society. 

Unfortunately, I have been unjustly imprisoned by a judicial practice where practicing law and the right to defense are treated as crimes. 

And now, on July 16, I will not be able to attend my client Ekrem İmamoğlu's verdict hearing. 

I will not be able to present the defense I spent weeks preparing. 

Tomorrow, I will not be in that courtroom where I should be! 

I am calling out to all my colleagues, bar associations, and legal organizations! 

Be in Silivri on July 16, tomorrow. 

If you are there, I am there too. 

The presence of each one of you must be the voice of the defense. 

Be in Silivri tomorrow, not for me, but in my place; for our professional honor and for the right to defense. 

Practicing law is not a crime! 

Defending the defense is the duty of us all. 

Respectfully, 

Imprisoned Lawyer 

Mehmet Pehlivan 

(From a cell in Çorlu)"

Dear Colleagues,

I have always viewed the legal profession not just as a job, but as a duty of conscience toward society.
Unfortunately, I have been unjustly imprisoned by a judicial practice where practicing law and the right to defense are treated as crimes.
And now, on July 16,...

— Mehmet Pehlivan (@mehmettpehlivan) July 15, 2025