A court in Turkey on Wednesday sentenced the mayor of Istanbul to two years and seven months in prison Wednesday on charges of insulting members of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council, The Associated Press reported.
The court convicted Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and also imposed a political ban that could lead to his removal from office. Imamoglu, who belongs to the main opposition Republican People’s Party, is expected to appeal the verdict, according to the report.
Critics alleged the mayor's trial was an attempt to eliminate a key opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey is scheduled to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in June.
Imamoglu was elected to lead Istanbul in March 2019. His win was a historic blow to Erdogan and the president's Justice and Development Party, which had controlled Istanbul for a quarter-century. The party pushed to void the municipal election results in the city of 16 million, alleging irregularities. The challenge resulted in a repeat of the election, which Imamoglu also won.
Imamoglu was charged with insulting senior public officials after he described canceling legitimate elections as an act of "foolishness" on November 4, 2019, according to AP.
The mayor denied insulting members of the electoral council, insisting his words were a response to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu calling him "a fool" and accusing Imamoglu of criticizing Turkey during a visit to the European Parliament.
Turkey has become notorious for its attempts to silence critics of Erdogan and has seen spiraling numbers of journalists, bloggers, and ordinary people - even schoolchildren - being taken to court on charges of insulting the President and other top officials.
Examples include a 17-year-old teen who was charged with "insulting" Erdogan on Facebook, a Turkish philosophy professor who was accused of insulting Erdogan in an article in which he accused the president of corruption, and even the former Miss Turkey who was prosecuted for social media posts deemed to be critical of Erdogan.
In December of 2016, the head of a cafeteria at a Turkish opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper was detained for insulting Erdogan after saying he would refuse to serve him tea.
Erdogan in 2015 filed a criminal complaint against the Cumhuriyet newspaper and its editor for publishing images allegedly showing trucks belonging to the state intelligence service helping send weapons to rebels in Syria.
Turkey also regularly blocks access to websites and has in recent years tightened government control of the Internet and the judiciary, generating criticism from rights groups.