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The mayor of Istanbul was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison. Ekrem Imamoglu, political opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was found guilty of insulting members of the electoral council, whom he called “crazy”.
The 52-year-old politician from the opposition CHP party is also no longer allowed to be politically active, the judge said. Imamoglu is a possible opponent of Erdogan in next year’s presidential election. He should appeal. In this case, he can remain mayor for the time being.
Prosecutors had requested a prison sentence of up to four years against Imamoglu last May. He admitted to having expressed criticism, but according to him, it was a political discussion.
Imamoglu has won the 2019 mayoral election in Turkey’s largest city. It was a setback for Erdogan’s AKP, who was once mayor of Istanbul. After complaints about irregularities, the electoral council decided that the elections should be redone. Imamoglu won again.
He then said that it was bad for Turkey’s international image that the elections had to be redone and that the responsible officials were fools.
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