The trial of former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on corruption charges is set to begin on March 9, 2026, and could last 12 years and six months, Cumhuriyet reported.
The case involves 105 defendants with more than 400 witnesses. The newspaper said the trial would last 4,600 days and would take place in Istanbul's Silivri district prison, where Imamoglu is being held. He had previously called on authorities to broadcast the trial live on state television.
Imamoglu is accused of forming a criminal organization, bribery, money laundering, causing damage to state institutions and organizations, as well as a number of violations related to personal data, concealing evidence in criminal cases, and conspiracy in the framework of holding tenders. The prosecution demanded a prison sentence of up to 2,352 years.
After Imamoglu's arrest, a wave of opposition-organized protests broke out in Turkey, the largest of which took place in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir. The leader of the opposition Republican People's Party, Özgür Özel, previously announced that the party had collected more than 20 million signatures in support of Imamoglu's release and the opposition's nomination of him for president.
