ISTANBUL Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu went on trial for alleged corruption today, along with more than 400 other defendants, in a case that critics see as a politically motivated move against Turkey’s opposition.

Mr Imamoglu, who has been behind bars for nearly a year, is the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 23-year rule. The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) chose him as its candidate for an election due in 2028 just days after he was detained.

Most of the 402 defendants worked for the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, headed by Mr Imamoglu since 2019. Many are elected officials from the CHP, while journalists are also among the accused.

The mayor’s arrest on March 19 last year sparked weeks of street protests, the largest seen in Turkey for more than a decade.

He faces 142 charges, including establishing the “Imamoglu criminal organisation for profit” in 2015, when he was mayor of Istanbul’s Beylikduzu district. 

The 3,900-page charge list alleges the goal was not just to enrich the accused through a system of bid-rigging and pay-offs but also to finance Mr Imamoglu’s rise in the CHP, ultimately resulting in his presidential candidacy.

If convicted, he could face a total prison sentence exceeding 2,000 years.

In a newspaper article published last Friday, Mr Imamoglu described his trial as “one of the toughest tests of democracy” in Turkey’s history and an “attempt to overturn the will of the people.”

The corruption case, which is expected to run for years, is just one of many which could lead to the Istanbul mayor being jailed and banned from politics. Others include claims of terrorism, espionage, falsifying his university diploma and insulting officials.

Elected CHP members, including mayors of other major cities, face separate terrorism and corruption allegations in what government critics say is a broad judicial campaign against the opposition. 

The party’s leadership itself is also under legal pressure over alleged irregularities surrounding its 2023 congress.