An indictment filed against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu and three other defendants on charges of "political espionage” has been accepted by a court, which set the first hearing for May 11 in Silivri.

The Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court ruled that the trial of Imamoğlu, Hüseyin Gün, Necati Özkan and Merdan Yanardağ will begin at 10 a.m. on May 11 at a courtroom inside the Marmara Prison complex in Silivri, Istanbul.

Imamoğlu, who was suspended from his post as mayor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) following his arrest in a separate case involving allegations of leading a criminal organization for financial gain, faces between 15 and 20 years in prison if convicted of political espionage. The other three defendants face the same prison term.

The court completed its review of the indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and issued its preliminary ruling. In its decision, the court said there is a strong suspicion of a crime supported by concrete evidence regarding political or military espionage. It cited the nature and classification of the alleged offense, the fact that the defendants have not yet presented their defenses and that evidence collection has not been completed.

On those grounds, the court ruled to continue the detention of Imamoğlu, Özkan, Yanardağ and Gün.

The panel also ordered that official correspondence be sent to the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Silivri District Gendarmerie Command to ensure that the hearing can be held at the prison complex and that necessary security measures are taken.

Prosecutors say a search of digital materials belonging to Gün led to the discovery of data exclusively found in IBB’s database. According to prosecutors, Özkan obtained the data originally and, upon instructions of Imamoğlu, relayed them to open-source intelligence (OSINT) websites. Gün is accused of accessing confidential documents of the municipality.