Istanbul's mayor goes on trial with some 400 defendants in corruption case

ISTANBUL (AP) — Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu went on trial on Monday with more than 400 other defendants accused of widespread corruption in a case critics see as a politically motivated move against Turkey’s opposition.

Imamoglu, who has been behind bars for nearly a year, is the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ’s 23-year rule. He was elected as the main opposition party’s candidate for an election due in 2028 just days after he was detained.

The hearing began in a tense atmosphere, with Imamoglu asking to speak and the panel of judges refusing the request, Halk TV news channel and other media reported. The judges accused Imamoglu of disrupting the proceedings, and then left the courtroom. The trial was adjourned until the afternoon.

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

Imamoglu’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 organization for profit” from 2015, when he was mayor of Istanbul’s Beylikduzu district. The 3,900-page indictment alleges the goal was not just to enrich the accused through a system of bid-rigging and pay-offs but also to finance 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 Friday, Imamoglu described Monday’s trial as “one of the toughest tests of democracy” in Turkey’s history and an “attempt to overturn the will of the people.”

The case is just one of the many indictments in which the 54-year-old mayor could be jailed and banned from politics. Others include claims of terrorism, espionage, falsifying his university diploma and insulting officials.

In what government critics says is a broad judicial campaign against the opposition, elected CHP members, including mayors of other major cities, face separate terrorism and corruption allegations. The party’s leadership itself is also under legal pressure over alleged irregularities surrounding its 2023 congress.

The scale and anticipated length of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality trial, which could run for years, has seen authorities commission the building of a new courtroom at the prison complex in Silivri, west of Istanbul, where Imamoglu and many defendants are held. Until it is completed, participants will squeeze into an existing chamber at the prison.

To highlight what they see as the political nature of prosecutions against CHP members, Imamoglu’s supporters and human rights groups point to a series of factors, including the role of Istanbul’s chief prosecutor. Akin Gurlek, the deputy justice minister, was appointed to that office in late 2024, where he initiated a series of investigations targeting CHP figures. Last month, he returned to government as justice minister.

Critics also say the prosecution’s reliance on “secret witnesses,” whose identity is hidden from defense lawyers, and defendants testifying against their co-accused, contravene the right to a fair trial.

The government maintains that Turkey’s judiciary is independent and impartial.

Despite a ban on demonstrations around the Silivri prison complex, hundreds of people gathered to demand Imamoglu's release. The CHP set up a replica of the cell where the mayor is being held — furnished with a desk, a chair, and a small television — for supporters to visit.

Benjamin Ward, Europe and Central Asia deputy director at Human Rights Watch, described the cases against the CHP over the past year as “weaponizing the criminal justice system.”

“Looking at these cases as a whole, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that prosecutors are trying to remove Imamoglu from politics and discredit his party in ways that undermine democracy,” he said.

__

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.

Supporters gather outside Silivri prison, where Istanbul jailed Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu stands trial accused of widespread corruption, west of Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, March 9, 2026. The poster reads in Turkish: "Ekrem Imamoglu freedom". (AP Photo/Dilara Acikgoz)

Supporters shout slogans outside Silivri prison, where Istanbul jailed Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu stands trial accused of widespread corruption, west of Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Dilara Acikgoz)

Supporters shout slogans outside Silivri prison, where Istanbul jailed Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu stands trial accused of widespread corruption, west of Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Dilara Acikgoz)

Supporters shout slogans outside Silivri prison, where Istanbul jailed Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu stands trial accused of widespread corruption, west of Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, March 9, 2026. Posters read in Turkish: "Türkiye will win!". (AP Photo/Dilara Acikgoz)

FILE - Istanbul Mayor and Republican People's Party, or CHP, candidate Ekrem Imamoglu addresses supporters outside the City Hall in Istanbul, Turkey, early Monday, April 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)

BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese parliament extended its term by two years on Monday due to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran that has pushed the region into an escalating conflict and Israel stepping up its attacks on Lebanon following renewed strikes with the militant group Hezbollah.

The Israeli military said Monday it was targeting Hezbollah’s financial arm, al-Qard Al-Hasan, as its ground forces in Lebanon's south launched “focused raids” against what it called the group’s infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has accused Israeli forces of using white phosphorus incendiary shells in strikes on residential areas in a Lebanese village, a violation of international law.

Lebanon’s state news agency said 76 legislators voted in favor of the decision, 41 were against, and four abstained. Hezbollah’s 13-member bloc in parliament voted in favor of the extension.

The ongoing war with Israel that began last week has displaced over half a million people in Lebanon and made it difficult to hold a vote in large parts of the country.

The parliamentary elections were scheduled for May.

Residents of Beirut’s southern suburb, widely known as Dahiyeh, were ordered to evacuate before Israel launched strikes.

Smoke billowed over Beirut after the attacks. The first strike destroyed a building housing an office of al-Qard al-Hasan in the southern suburb of Chiyah. A Lebanese journalist on site told The Associated Press he was wounded in the leg and taken to a nearby hospital. Video footage showed what appeared to be two strikes on the building that were minutes apart.

The strikes on Chiyah were followed by more airstrikes on nearby areas, forcing Lebanese troops to close roads where al-Qard al-Hasan branches are located to ensure people's safety.

Israel says Hezbollah uses al-Qard al-Hasan to finance its military activities and has targeted several of the group's branches in southern and eastern Lebanon last week.

In southern Lebanon, the Israeli military said it launched a “focused raid” to eliminate Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure using a brigade combat team under the command of the 36th Division.

The military said before they initiated the operation, its forces launched a combined air and ground attack in the area.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it struck Israeli troops inside Lebanon with anti-tank missiles and that it fired a volley of rockets on the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona in retaliation for Israeli strikes on cities, towns and villages in Lebanon.

The latest round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah beganon Feb. 2 when the group fired rockets and drones on northern Israel following the killing of Iran’s Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, two days earlier in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike. Israel retaliated with large waves of airstrikes and Israeli troops captured several new posts in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese government last week declared Hezbollah’s military activities illegal and ordered the country’s security forces to detain those who were behind the strikes on Israel.

Three Hezbollah members were also detained last week while carrying weapons on their way to south Lebanon and were questioned by judicial authorities. On Monday, the military court in Beirut ordered them released on a $20 bail each, judicial officials said.

The officials said the judge asked the three men what they were doing and they responded that they were heading to south Lebanon to fight against Israeli forces. They spoke in condition of anonymity as they are not allowed to speak to the media.

The human rights group said in a report Monday the Israeli military “unlawfully” hit a village in southern Lebanon with shells containing white phosphorus, a controversial incendiary munition.

Through geolocating and verifying seven images, Human Rights Watch said Israel fired white phosphorus using artillery at residential areas in the southern Lebanese village of Yohmor. It happened hours after the Israeli military warned the residents of the village and dozens of others in southern Lebanon to evacuate.

Human Rights Watch said it couldn’t independently identify if any residents were still in the area or if anyone was harmed.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the past, it has maintained that it uses white phosphorus as a smoke screen and not to target civilians.

Human rights advocates say the use of white phosphorus is illegal under international law when the white-hot chemical substance is fired into populated areas. It can set buildings on fire and burn human flesh down to the bone. Survivors are at risk of infections and organ or respiratory failure, even if their burns are small.

“The Israeli military’s unlawful use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians,” said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said the munition was used in Israel’s last war with Hezbollah, over a year ago, on numerous occasions in southern Lebanon, while civilians were still present.

Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel.

An Israeli tank maneuvers in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)