Webinar: Judicial Power as a Tool of Political Control
Webinar om rettsforfølgelsen av Istanbuls ordfører og presidentkandidat Ekrem İmamoğlu:
On 5 March 2026, this online event will examine the case against Istanbul Mayor and leading presidential opposition figure Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is standing trial in a large-scale criminal case brought against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The first hearing in the case is scheduled to take place on 9 March in Silivri, a location symbolically associated with high-profile political trials in Turkey.
The indictment, accepted by the Istanbul 40th Heavy Penal Court in late November, spans nearly 4,000 pages and names hundreds of individuals as defendants. According to the indictment, İmamoğlu is described as the “founder and leader of a criminal organisation.” Some sources report that the cumulative prison sentences sought against İmamoğlu amount to thousands of years of imprisonment.
This event will analyse the İmamoğlu case as a stark example of the systematic instrumentalisation of the judiciary to redesign the political sphere, eliminate political opposition, and neutralise the democratic will as expressed through elections.
Bringing together international human rights defenders and political representatives, the event will address the severe deterioration in Turkey of the right to a fair trial, judicial independence, freedom of expression, and the right to peaceful assembly.
Read more and register for the online event: Webinar Judicial Power as a Tool of Political Control
