NINE MORE DEFENDANTS RELEASED IN ISTANBUL’S CORRUPTION PROBE
Nine defendants were released at the 53rd hearing of the Istanbul Municipality’s corruption trial, bringing the total number of releases in the case to 51.
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ISTANBUL MUNICIPALITY TRIAL: DEFENDANTS ALLEGE STRIP SEARCHES, COERCED STATEMENTS AND PROSECUTORIAL THREATS
Allegations of ill-treatment, strip searches and prosecutorial threats dominated this week's hearings at the Istanbul Municipality corruption trial, as defendants described abusive detention conditions and coerced statements.
COURT PAUSES LEGAL BATTLE OVER ISTANBUL’S ANCIENT BASILICA CISTERN
In the latest episode of a legal battle between the central government and the opposition-led Istanbul municipality, a Turkish appeals court on June 4 temporarily blocked the transfer of the historic Basilica Cistern, a major tourist attraction of Istanbul, from the municipality to the Directorate General of Foundations.
15 RELEASED IN ISTANBUL CORRUPTION CASE AS ERDOĞAN AND ÖZEL TRADE BLOWS
Fifteen more pre-trial defendants were released in the corruption case targeting the Istanbul Municipality, including Adem Soytekin, a businessperson who applied for leniency under Turkey's remorse law, as the war of words between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and main opposition CHP Chair Özgür Özel showed no signs of abating over the case.
İMAMOĞLU TO THE COURT: "THE ONLY CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION HERE IS THE PROSECUTION"
The Istanbul Municipality corruption trial reached its 19th hearing session this week, bringing some of the most dramatic courtroom scenes since proceedings began. Ekrem İmamoğlu, the CHP's presidential candidate and Istanbul's jailed mayor, set the tone for the week. Describing the indictment as "not just garbage but rotten garbage rotting inside garbage," he told the court the case had already collapsed at its foundations: "If the alleged leader of the organization does not even know the alleged members, the whole thing collapses from the start."
INVESTIGATION INTO CELEBRITIES EXPANDS TO İMAMOĞLU AND ISTANBUL MUNICIPALITY
An investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into alleged drug use and prostitution involving celebrities has widened to include Istanbul Municipality and its jailed mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, following media reports referring to secret hotel rooms, gambling, private parties and jet travel.
FULL-FLEDGED CRACKDOWN ON CHP CONTINUES
The financial crimes police raided Şile Municipality on July 10, detaining Mayor Özgür Kabadayı as part of the widening corruption investigations targeting CHP-run municipalities. It was yet another ordinary day for the main opposition, which has been facing near-daily legal turmoil since Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was detained on March 19. CHP Istanbul Chair Özgür Çelik said Kabadayı and several others were detained in house raids at 1:30 a.m. Arrest warrants were issued for at least six individuals, said the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
NINE RELEASED IN ISTANBUL MUNICIPALITY CASE AS İMAMOĞLU DIPLOMA APPEAL ADVANCES AT UNPRECEDENTED SPEED
At the 41st hearing of the sweeping Istanbul Municipality corruption trial, nine more defendants were released ahead of Eid al-Adha, bringing the total number of remaining detainees to 68.
İMAMOĞLU BREAKS DOWN IN TEARS IN COURT
The 34th day of the corruption trial targeting Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and dozens of officials linked to the CHP and Istanbul Municipality saw the mayor in tears as he questioned a defendant — soon after he declared that the allegations in the indictment were collapsing one by one.
COMPLAINANT, WITNESS, AND DEFENDANT — ALL CHP
A recent judicial operation that placed the CHP-run Ataşehir municipality under trustee administration has exposed something more damaging than any prosecutor's indictment: the party is being undone, in part, by its own.
DEFENDANTS CONTINUE CHALLENGING CORRUPTION INDICTMENT ON İMAMOĞLU CASE
The sixth week of the mass corruption trial of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and more than 400 co-defendants produced some of its most dramatic courtroom exchanges. İmamoğlu and the presiding judge continued sharp exchanges while the municipality’s housing company, KİPTAŞ, chair Ali Kurt implicated senior government figures in a land scheme, and the European Court of Human Rights formally demanded answers from Ankara.
ANOTHER CHP MAYOR ARRESTED AS PRESSURE MOUNTS AHEAD OF İMAMOĞLU TRIAL
Gendarmes arrested CHP’s Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan March 2, just as the party was bracing for the trial on corruption allegations concerning the Istanbul Municipality.