Istanbul mayor trial enters 84th day as 107 defendants await defense

September 21, 2026 at 02:05 PM1 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

The trial of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and 434 other defendants entered its 84th day at Silivri's Marmara Closed Prison on September 21, 2026. The court said it will not hear defenses from 21 new defendants this week because they have not been served with the indictment. The second hearing is scheduled to conclude by the end of September, with 107 defendants still to present their defense.

Key Facts

The trial involves 435 defendants, 51 of whom are in custody, including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
A 195-page supplementary indictment added 21 new defendants, raising the total from 414 to 435.
Of the 325 non-detained defendants, 218 have completed their defense, leaving 107 yet to testify.
The court will not hear defenses from the 21 new defendants this week because they have not been served with the indictment.
The second hearing is scheduled to conclude by the end of September 2026.

Hearing Proceedings

The 84th day of the trial began at 11:35 a.m. at the new courtroom of Marmara Closed Prison in Silivri. The first defendant to take the stand was former Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Real Estate Management Department head Irsadi Akbas. Before the session, spectators celebrated the birthday of Medya A.S. General Manager Fatos Pinar Turker with a banner reading 'Happy birthday, Fatos'.

Supplementary Indictment

The supplementary indictment concerns Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality subsidiary Agac ve Peyzaj A.S. and includes 29 defendants. Eight of those defendants are already being tried in the main case, while 21 are new to the file. The court president stated that the 21 new defendants will not present their defense this week because they have not been served with the indictment.