02.04.2026 11:31
The 15th day of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality case, which includes Ekrem İmamoğlu among 407 defendants, continues with the request for release from the lawyers of the remaining 34 individuals. A interim decision is expected to be announced today in the case where the prosecutor has requested the release of 7 detained defendants.
The trial of the İBB Case, which includes 107 detained defendants, among them the suspended Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Ekrem İmamoğlu, and a total of 407 defendants, is continuing in the 1st courtroom across from the Marmara Closed Penal Institution, presided over by the Istanbul 40th Heavy Penal Court in its fourth week.
15TH DAY OF THE TRIAL
Among the 107 detained defendants attending the trial are İBB Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Şişli Mayor Emrah Resul Şahan, Beylikdüzü Mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık, former CHP Member of Parliament Aykut Erdoğdu, İBB Presidential Advisor and MEDYA AŞ Board Chairman Murat Ongun, İBB Sports Club President Fatih Keleş, İmamoğlu's brother-in-law Cevat Kaya, and İmamoğlu's lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan.
Some of the non-detained defendants and their lawyers, including Ekrem İmamoğlu's son Mehmet Selim İmamoğlu, his father Hasan İmamoğlu, İBB Deputy Secretary General Mahir Polat, and İBB Council Participation and Affiliated Institutions Commission Chairman Ertan Yıldız, also attended the trial.
The detained defendants began to be brought into the courtroom under the escort of gendarmerie. Relatives of the defendants in the audience tried to greet the detainees by calling out their names. When Ekrem İmamoğlu was brought into the courtroom, all the detained defendants stood up. İmamoğlu waved to the section where the lawyers were, shook hands and hugged some of the detained defendants, while the audience applauded and chanted "President İmamoğlu." The court panel entered the courtroom at 10:30, and the trial began.
A INTERIM DECISION WILL BE MADE TODAY
The trial, which last received the request of the 73rd detained defendant yesterday, continues today with the release requests of the lawyers of 34 names. Additionally, the press, which was seated in the back rows, was allowed to return to their previous places starting today. The court panel will take the release request of the lawyers of the remaining 34 detained defendants and then make an interim decision.
RELEASE OF 7 DEFENDANTS IS REQUESTED
The Prosecutor of the trial announced his opinion regarding the detentions. The prosecution requested the release of Özgür Karabat's driver Sırrı Küçük, defendant Fatih Yağcı, an employee of Ağaç A. Ş, businessman Evren Şirolu, Ekrem İmamoğlu's Chief of Staff Kadriye Kasapoğlu, businessman Ali Üner, public bus owner Ebubekir Akın, and Davut Bildik, an office staff member of İBB's subsidiary company İSPER. The prosecution requested the release of these defendants at this stage, considering the duration of their detention and the nature of the charges against them, while requesting the continuation of the current detention status of the other defendants at this stage.
FROM THE INDICTMENT
In the indictment prepared by the Organized Crimes Investigation Bureau of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the Presidency of the Mülkiye Inspection Board is listed as the "whistleblower," while the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, and Şişli Municipality are listed as "victims of the crime."
Additionally, the indictment states that 16 individuals are "complainants," with a total of 407 individuals listed as "defendants," including 107 detained, 7 fugitives, and 5 "complainant defendants."
The indictment describes the activities of the criminal organization from its establishment in 2014 to the present, stating that "the public damage caused by the benefits obtained from the 143 actions subject to the indictment amounts to approximately 160 billion Turkish liras and 24 million US dollars in movable assets and consists of 95 real estate properties in Istanbul and across the country (excluding the assets obtained from the criminal proceeds of the organization’s leaders and managers)."
The organizational chart included in the indictment indicates that detained defendant Ekrem İmamoğlu is the "leader of the organization," while detained defendants Murat Ongun, Fatih Keleş, and Adem Soytekin, as well as non-detained defendant Ertan Yıldız, another detained individual Hüseyin Gün, and fugitive defendant Murat Gülibrahimoğlu are also noted as "organization managers."
The chart shows that 10 members of the organization are directly connected to Ekrem İmamoğlu, while 77 members are connected to Fatih Keleş, 35 to Murat Ongun, 8 to Ertan Yıldız, 7 to Hüseyin Gün, 6 to Murat Gülibrahimoğlu, and 6 to Adem Soytekin.
The indictment states that Ekrem İmamoğlu is charged with "establishing an organization for the purpose of committing a crime," "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 proceeds of crime," "interfering with a tender," "deliberately polluting the environment," "violating the Tax Procedure Law," "violating the Forestry Law," and "violating the Mining Law," with a request for a prison sentence ranging from 849 years to 2,430 years and 6 months.
The indictment requests that Keleş be sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 556 years and 8 months to 1,542 years and 8 months for 48 counts of "bribery," "receiving bribes," "giving bribes," 55 counts of "interfering with a tender," 39 counts of "fraud to the detriment of public institutions and organizations," 8 counts of "laundering proceeds of crime," "violating the Mining Law," "violating the Forestry Law," "causing environmental pollution," "violating the Tax Procedure Law," "extortion," "destroying, concealing, or altering evidence of a crime," and "obstructing communication."
The indictment requests that Ongun be sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 287 years and 6 months to 779 years and 6 months for "bribery," 53 counts of "interfering with a tender," 33 counts of "fraud to the detriment of public institutions and organizations," "disclosing, disseminating, or seizing personal data," "publicly disseminating misleading information," and "laundering proceeds of crime," while Yıldız faces a prison sentence of 86 years to 251 years for "bribery," "interfering with a tender," and "fraud to the detriment of public institutions and organizations."
The indictment requests that Soytekin be sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 67 years to 194 years for "bribery," "chain bribery," "extortion," and "laundering proceeds of crime," while Gülibrahimoğlu faces a prison sentence of 19 years and 6 months to 51 years for "fraud to the detriment of public institutions and organizations," "laundering proceeds of crime," "forgery," "violating the Mining Law," "violating the Forestry Law," "causing environmental pollution," and "violating the Tax Procedure Law."
The indictment requests that Gün be sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 20 years to 40 years for "establishing an organization for the purpose of committing a crime," "disclosing, disseminating, or seizing personal data," and states that these defendants, who are in the position of organization managers, should also be punished as perpetrators for all crimes committed within the framework of the activities of the structures affiliated with the organization.
In the indictment, it is requested that the "effective remorse" provisions be applied to the defendants Adem Soytekin, Hüseyin Gün, and Ertan Yıldız, who provided information regarding the crimes committed within the framework of the organization's structure and activities after being caught.
In the indictment, which includes a request for a prison sentence of up to 91 years for Şişli Mayor Emrah Resul Şahan, who was suspended from his position after his arrest, for 5 counts of "bribery," 2 counts of "embezzlement," "illegal recording of personal data," "illegally providing or obtaining personal data," and "membership in an organization established for the purpose of committing crimes," it is also requested that Beylikdüzü Mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık, who was suspended from his position after his arrest, be sentenced to a total of 30 to 88 years in prison for 7 counts of "bribery" and "membership in an organization established for the purpose of committing crimes."