İmamoğlu ejected from hearing as court releases 6 defendants
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was removed from the courtroom during a heated hearing on July 8 in the corruption trial, while Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney was among six defendants ordered released pending trial.
İmamoğlu from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was expelled from the hearing after the presiding judge accused him of disrupting courtroom order and discipline, media reported.
The mayor has been in custody since March 2025 and has been appearing before a specially designated prison courtroom alongside 414 co-defendants, 59 of whom were in detention before the latest rulings.
Hundreds of party members and elected officials have been detained over the past two years in a crackdown critics say is designed to cripple Türkiye’s largest opposition group. The government denies accusations, maintaining that the country’s judicial system is independent and free of political interference.
