An Istanbul court on Monday rejected a plea for the release of former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, who was arrested in March on charges of corruption.
Media reports said the court also rejected appeals by lawyers for other suspects in the case, including Murat Ongun, an aide to the mayor who led a media company owned by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB).
Imamoğlu is among 99 suspects investigated in a far-reaching corruption case. They are accused of running a criminal organization that allegedly profited from bribery and rigging tenders the municipality awarded to shady companies. Other charges they face include illegally obtaining the personal data of Istanbul residents.
Imamoğlu, who was reelected in municipal elections last year, where he ran for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), faces several cases ranging from insulting public officials to corruption dating back to his tenure as mayor of Istanbul’s Beylikdüzü district. He is currently held in a prison complex in the city’s Silivri district, and a hearing date for his corruption trial is not set yet. The CHP sought to incite riots to protest Imamoğlu’s arrest and held nightly rallies outside the IBB building for days.