Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and at least 20 others were jailed as part of a corruption investigation.
A Turkish court jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Sunday pending trial on graft charges, state media and other broadcasters said, in a move likely to stoke the country’s biggest protests against President Tayyip Erdogan’s government in more than a decade.
The decision to send Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main political rival, to prison comes after the main opposition party, European leaders and tens of thousands of protesters criticized the actions against him as politicized and undemocratic.
The court said Imamoglu, 54, and at least 20 others were jailed as part of a corruption investigation, one of two that were opened against him last week.
The court decided to release the mayor under judicial control measures over a separate terror-related charge, broadcasters Halk TV and AHaber reported, potentially blocking the government from appointing a trustee to run the country’s largest city.
