İmamoğlu's lawyer announces: ECHR will examine the İmamoğlu case first

Mehmet Pehlivan, the lawyer for detained Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor and CHP presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, made a statement regarding the application filed with the ECHR concerning İmamoğlu's detention.

The following was noted in a post shared from Pehlivan's X account:

"Announced to the public. We have been officially notified that our application to the ECHR regarding the unjust detention of our client, Ekrem İmamoğlu, will be examined as a priority. This priority review decision by the ECHR is a rare decision among applications made from Turkey to date. Detained Lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan."

UP TO 2,430 YEARS IN PRISON SOUGHT

İBB Mayor İmamoğlu was arrested in March as part of a corruption investigation into the İBB.

In the trial set to begin on March 9, 2026, at the Istanbul 40th High Criminal Court, prosecutors are seeking a total sentence ranging from 849 years to 2,430 years and 6 months in prison for İmamoğlu on charges including "establishing an organization for the purpose of committing crimes," "recording personal data," "seizing and disseminating personal data," "concealing evidence of a crime," "obstructing communication," "damaging public property," "bribery," "publicly disseminating misleading information," "extortion," "fraud to the detriment of public institutions and organizations," "laundering assets derived from crime," "rigging tenders," "intentional pollution of the environment," and "violation of the Tax Procedure Law, the Forest Law, and the Mining Law."