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'A terrible day for Turkish democracy', the opposition party says as Imamoglu appears in court
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Apr 11, 2025
Istanbul's jailed opposition mayor appeared in court on Friday for one of several cases against him. Hundreds of supporters gathered outside Silivri prison, west of Istanbul, where the hearing was held, including some leading members of Imamoglu's party. Andrew Hilliar has more from the outskirts of Istanbul.
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0:00
We're going to cross now to our reporter in Istanbul, Andrew Hillier
0:04
Hi, Andrew. So, Imamoglu's hearing today, which is a part of a trial unrelated to his arrest three weeks ago, has come and gone
0:12
It's been adorned until June, as I mentioned. He still came out fighting. Tell us more about what he said
0:20
Yeah, that's right. Ekrem Imamoglu's opening hearing took place at the Silivri prison complex
0:28
where he's being held some 60 kilometres outside of Istanbul. This is, as you mentioned, unrelated to his arrest three weeks ago
0:39
It is actually one of several trials that the Istanbul mayor is facing
0:46
And it is related to remarks he made against Istanbul's chief public prosecutor back in January
0:54
It was also his first appearance since his arrest three weeks ago
0:59
He is indeed accused of making threatening remarks. Now, the hearing is over. It ended just a few hours ago
1:07
A second date for the hearing has been set for June 16th
1:13
The judge saying that that is to give the prosecutors time to prepare their arguments
1:19
Now, Imamoglu came out fighting when he addressed the court. He said he was here because he had won Istanbul three times
1:31
He said that he was here because someone said whoever wins Istanbul wins Turkey
1:37
Of course, that's someone he is referring to, his Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan
1:42
who he himself was mayor of Istanbul back in the 1990s. Now something else that is important to point out is that this hearing was initially scheduled to take place in a courthouse in Istanbul The decision was then taken to move the hearing to a courthouse inside the Silivri prison complex
2:03
Now, that decision may have been taken to avoid people from gathering outside a courthouse in Istanbul
2:09
and potentially holding protests. It's true that Silivri, as I mentioned earlier, it's 60 kilometres outside Istanbul
2:17
so it's far more inaccessible. And that decision to move the hearing was actually criticized by Imamoglu
2:23
and Imamoglu's lawyer. They both said that the public should be allowed to watch proceedings
2:31
Now, this has largely been perceived, Andy, at least by the opposition as a political trial
2:38
as a series of political trials, really. So how has the opposition CHP reacted to these latest developments
2:47
Yeah, well, Erin, throughout the day, representatives from the CHP, that's Turkey's main opposition party to which Ekrem Imamoglu belongs, have been outside Silivri prison talking to the media to give their reaction
3:02
Not too long ago, the group's deputy chairperson said it was a terrible day for democracy
3:09
But he added that it was impossible to restrain the nation's will with what he called false indictments
3:17
Earlier today, the CHP's vice chairman spoke to us. He said that the cases were part of an operation to destroy the CHP
3:26
and to sabotage the ambitions, the presidential ambitions of Ekrem Imamoglu. He said that the cases had no legal foundation
3:36
That is something that has been denied by the Turkish government, which claims that the proceedings are fair and transparent
3:43
Andrew Hillier in Istanbul, thank you very much for that update
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