09.03.2026 11:21
The first hearing of the case against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, which involves allegations of corruption and includes 402 defendants, 106 of whom are in custody, began at the Marmara Open Prison campus in Silivri. Ekrem İmamoğlu was brought to the courtroom, where the first step will be to establish identities, followed by a summary of the indictment being read.
The 402 defendants, including Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was arrested on March 23 in the İBB corruption case, are appearing before the judge for the first time today, with 107 of them in custody.
In the hearing that started in the No. 1 courtroom at the Marmara Open Penitentiary Institution in Silivri, the Istanbul 40th Heavy Penal Court will identify the defendants, and then the summary of the indictment will be read. After that, the defendants will present their defenses. The hearings will continue four days a week until the end of April.
ÖZGÜR ÖZEL ALSO IN THE COURTROOM
CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik, Dilek Kaya İmamoğlu, and Selim İmamoğlu entered the courtroom at 09:52.
BROUGHT TO THE COURTROOM UNDER GENDARMERIE ESCORT
In the hearing, the detained defendants, including Ekrem İmamoğlu, were brought to the courtroom under gendarmerie escort. The defendants who are not in custody were also present in the courtroom.
UP TO 2,000 YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT REQUESTED FOR İMAMOĞLU
Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was removed from his position as the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and arrested, is the subject of a completed 'corruption' investigation, and an indictment of 3,809 pages was prepared on November 11, 2025. In the indictment, Ekrem İmamoğlu, referred to as the 'Organization Leader', is accused of committing the crimes of 'Establishing an Organization for the Purpose of Committing Crimes', 'Bribery', 'Money Laundering', 'Fraud to the Detriment of Public Institutions and Organizations', 'Recording Personal Data', 'Seizing and Disseminating Personal Data', 'Concealing Criminal Evidence', 'Obstructing Communication', 'Causing Damage to Public Property', 'Receiving Bribes', 'Publicly Disseminating Misleading Information', 'Extortion', 'Laundering Assets Derived from Crime', 'Interfering with a Tender', 'Deliberately Polluting the Environment', 'Violating the Tax Procedure Law', 'Violating the Forestry Law', and 'Violating the Mining Law'. İmamoğlu is requested to be sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 828 years and 2 months to 2,352 years for 142 actions.
Details are coming...