Istanbul Court Keeps İmamoğlu Jailed in 'Political Espionage' Case

An Istanbul court rejected requests to release jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and three co-defendants in the ongoing 'political espionage' trial on May 13, 2026. İmamoğlu — Turkey's most prominent opposition politician and the CHP's designated presidential candidate for 2028 — has been held in Marmara Prison since his arrest in March 2025. The espionage indictment, a parallel prosecution separate from the mass corruption trial involving 413 defendants that began March 9, 2026, seeks sentences of up to 20 years per defendant. The May 13 ruling underscored that Turkish authorities intend to keep İmamoğlu incarcerated for the foreseeable future despite the international community's wide condemnation of the prosecution as politically motivated. Critics including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the European Union have characterized the case as a systematic effort to neutralize Erdoğan's most credible challenger ahead of the 2028 presidential election.