Court acquits İmamoğlu in 'insulting public official' case without holding hearing

Duvar English

An Istanbul court has acquitted Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), of charges of “publicly insulting a public official” for his remarks on Istanbul’s Tuzla district Mayor Şadi Yazıcı during his speech at the opening of a treatment plant in the district in 2022. 

Previously, the Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has requested a maximum prison term of 2 years and 4 months and a political ban for İmamoğlu in the indictment. 

The prosecutor stated that the Mayor of Tuzla, from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), who proceeded to his vehicle after his speech at the inauguration ceremony, was subjected to actions by some people in the area "exceeding the legal limits of protest and criticism."

"Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was making a speech at the time, did not help to ensure calmness in a manner befitting a statesman, but on the contrary, he used expressions fueling the aggressive behavior of the people,” the prosecutor claimed. 

İmamoğlu was quoted in the indictment saying, “That friend (Tuzla Mayor) came here to cause disturbance. He continues provocations without courtesy, a bad word belongs to its owner.”

The Anatolian 16th Criminal Court of First Instance, to which the indictment was sent, acquitted İmamoğlu on Sept. 6, without seeing the need for a hearing.

In another case, İmamoğlu received a verdict of 2 years and 7 months in prison, along with a political ban for the alleged charge of "insulting" the members of the Supreme Election Council (YSK), which must be confirmed by an appeals court before application.