İstanbul mayor faces four years in prison for insulting Supreme Electoral Council members

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The prosecutor's office has announced its opinion as to the accusations in the trial of İstanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu for insulting the members of the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK).

Prosecutors demand the mayor be sentenced to up to 4 years and 1 month in prison for "publicly insulting public officials because of their duties."

İmamoğlu's lawyer, Kemal Polat, attended the hearing at the İstanbul Anadolu 7th Penal Court of first Instance.

The judge stated that İmamoğlu's request for the recusal of the judge had been rejected by the Anadolu Heavy Penal Court.

After the prosecutor announced the opinion, lawyer Polat said the rejection of their request was not in accordance with the procedures and they would make their defense as to the accusations later.

The court decided to allow time until the next hearing for Ekrem İmamoğlu's lawyer to make defense, adjourning the hearing to a later date.

What happened?

Ekrem İmamoğlu, a member of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), won the election for the mayor of İstanbul on March 31, 2019 by a narrow margin.

In a controversial decision, the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK), the country's top electoral authority, ruled that the election should be repeated. İmamoğlu comfortably won the repeat election on June 24, 2019.

According to the indictment, İmamoğlu called YSK members "fools" during a press conference on November 4, 2019.

The indictment cites YSK Chair Sadi Güven and 10 members of the council as "aggrieved parties."

In his written testimony, İmamoğlu said his statement did not target the YSK members and was not perceived that way by anyone. His statement was harsh criticism but did not target any specific person, he said.

(HA)