Istanbul mayor on trial for ‘threatening’ prosecutor

ISTANBUL: Istanbul´s jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the leading opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, appeared in court on Monday on charges of threatening the city´s public prosecutor.

The case is one of a number of investigations targeting Imamoglu, but is not connected to the graft probe that led to his arrest in March, which sparked Turkey´s worst street protests in over a decade.

Imamoglu, 54, is on trial over remarks he made, allegedly questioning the integrity of Istanbul´s chief public prosecutor, Akin Gurlek. He faces charges of “threatening” and “insulting a public official” and “targeting” an individual involved in counter-terror efforts, according to MLSA, the Turkish rights group whose lawyers are defending him.