13.05.2026 10:56
In the "espionage" case where Ekrem İmamoğlu, strategist Necati Özkan, journalist Merdan Yanardağ, and technology investor Hüseyin Gün are being tried, the prosecutor's opinion has been announced. The prosecutor demanded prison sentences of 15 to 20 years for the defendants and the continuation of their detention.
The third hearing in the case where arrested and suspended Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, strategist Necati Özkan, technology investor Hüseyin Gün, and journalist Merdan Yanardağ are being tried on charges of "political espionage," with prison sentences ranging from 15 to 20 years sought for each, is being held by the Istanbul 25th Heavy Penal Court in the courtroom opposite the Marmara Closed Penal Execution Institution.
CONTINUATION OF DEFENDANTS' DETENTION REQUESTED
In its interim opinion, the prosecutor's office requested a decision to continue the detention of the defendants, citing the need for an opinion on whether the information and documents in the indictment and the defendants' digital examination reports are of a nature that must remain confidential for state security or domestic or foreign political interests, the presence of concrete evidence indicating strong suspicion of guilt regarding the crime attributed to the defendants, the nature of the alleged crime, the lower and upper limits of the penalty prescribed by law, the proportionality of the detention period relative to the time already served and the penalty prescribed for the alleged crime, the fact that evidence collection procedures have not yet been completed, and the assessment that judicial controls would not be sufficient at this stage.