Indictment prepared for individuals including Ekrem İmamoğlu and Merdan Yanardağ: Espionage investigation completed

An indictment has been prepared on charges of 'political espionage' for Republican People's Party (CHP) presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Necati Özkan, Hüseyin Gün, and journalist Merdan Yanardağ.

The statement from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, which prepared the indictment in the espionage investigation, is as follows:

“As a result of the investigation conducted by our Chief Public Prosecutor's Office Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau, a public lawsuit has been filed as of today against suspects Ekrem İmamoğlu, Necati Özkan, Hüseyin Gün, and Merdan Yanardağ for the crime of Political Espionage.”

An investigation was launched last October into the detained Ekrem İmamoğlu, the director of İmamoğlu's election campaign Necati Özkan, and journalist Merdan Yanardağ on allegations of "espionage." 

DETAILS OF THE INDICTMENT

The indictment stated, "It has been understood that by manipulating the 2019 local elections in particular, it was aimed to ensure the election of the supported suspect Ekrem İmamoğlu, thereby enabling him to have a say in our country's politics, especially in Istanbul, and that activities were carried out in line with this goal." 

The 'conclusion' section of the indictment included the following statements:

“When the entire scope of the file and the existing evidence are examined, as stated in the legal evaluation section above, it is requested that the suspects be tried for the alleged acts and be PUNISHED separately in accordance with the aforementioned referral articles corresponding to their actions for the alleged crime, 

2- Considering the existence of concrete evidence showing the presence of strong suspicion of a crime, the nature and amount of the sanction provided for in the law regarding the alleged crime, the manner in which the crime was committed, the tools used in the commission of the crime, the severity of the damage and danger caused, the purpose and motive pursued, and the fact that the alleged crimes are among the catalog crimes listed in Article 100/3.a of the Criminal Procedure Code (CMK); it is requested that the DETENTION STATUS of the detained suspects be CONTINUED along with the interim decision, 

3- That the periods the suspects spent in custody and detention be DEDUCTED separately from the sentences they will receive in accordance with Article 63 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), 

4- That the security measures in Article 53 of the TCK be ADJUDICATED for the suspects, 

5- The CONFISCATION of the TV channel named TELEI

6- The RETURN of the digital materials belonging to suspect Merdan Yanardağ registered in the Judicial Deposit under sequence number 202611932, the STORAGE of image exports as EVIDENCE IN THE FILE, the CONFISCATION of money and valuables belonging to suspect Hüseyin Gün registered in the Judicial Deposit under sequence number 2025/16812, the STORAGE of image exports of digital materials belonging to suspect Necati Özkan registered in the Judicial Deposit under sequence number 2026/1935 as EVIDENCE IN THE FILE, the RETURN of digital materials belonging to suspect Hüseyin Gün registered in the Judicial Deposit under sequence number 2026/1937, and the STORAGE of image exports as EVIDENCE IN THE FILE

7 - It is requested and demanded on behalf of the public that the investigation and prosecution expenses be COLLECTED from the suspects in accordance with Article 325 of the CMK.”

UP TO 20 YEARS IN PRISON REQUESTED

The indictment requested that İmamoğlu, Gün, Özkan, and Yanardağ be sentenced to 15 to 20 years in prison each for the crime of "political espionage."

It was reported that the trial will be heard by the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court.