Turkish prosecutors on Tuesday charged Istanbul’s jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu with 142 offences that could carry a penalty of hundreds of year in prison, court documents showed.
The nearly 4,000-page indictment charges the popular opposition mayor, who was arrested on March 19, with offences including running a criminal organisation, bribery, embezzlement, money laundering, extortion and tender rigging.
The arrest of Imamoglu, the main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prompted outrage from the main opposition CHP party and widespread demonstrations in Turkey’s worst bout of street unrest since 2013.
According to the indictment, Imamoglu was allegedly at the head of a sprawling crime network over which he exerted his influence “like an octopus”.
State news agency Anadolu said prosecutors were asking for a prison sentence that could amount to up to 2,430 years behind bars.
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© Agence France-Presse
