An İstanbul regional appeals court has upheld the 2 years, 7 months, 15 days prison sentence and accompanying political ban against jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in the so-called “idiot/fool” case. His lawyers say they will now take the case to the Supreme Court of Appeals (Yargıtay). The court also noted and corrected a bookkeeping “calculation error” in how the term was recorded but left the conviction and political ban intact.
The case stems from İmamoğlu’s late-2019 remarks after the first 2019 İstanbul mayoral vote was annulled; prosecutors said he insulted members of the Supreme Election Board (YSK), while İmamoğlu has maintained he was responding to then–Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu’s use of the same word about him. The initial sentence and political ban were handed down in December 2022.
Friday’s ruling lands while İmamoğlu is already in jail on separate corruption and related charges filed in March—a move that sparked the largest street protests in a decade. Despite his detention, the opposition CHP selected him as its presidential candidate in a party primary later that month. He denies all charges.
The decision also comes amid a wider legal squeeze on the opposition: It has been tallied that 500+ detentions of CHP figures over the past year, including multiple mayors. Just last week, Bayrampaşa district mayor Hasan Mutlu was jailed pending trial in a corruption probe, which the CHP calls politicized. The government insists the judiciary acts independently.
İmamoğlu’s team will appeal to Yargıtay. A final affirmation there would lock in both the sentence and political ban, potentially sidelining President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s most prominent rival well ahead of the 2028 presidential race. Separately, the CHP faces an October 24 court date in Ankara over a case that could annul its 2023 congress—another proceeding the party calls politically driven.
