Ekrem Imamoğlu, who was sentenced over an insult trial, made a phone call to the chief prosecutor who sought the jail term for him, according to a report by the Sabah newspaper on Thursday.
The Istanbul mayor called Ismail Uçar following the second hearing of his trial, under the pretext of questioning why roads around the courthouse were blocked. Roads were closed for security measures during the critical trial, which concluded with a prison term of two years and seven months and a political ban for Imamoğlu.
The ruling is not final as it is not yet been upheld by an appeals court. The mayor had rallied a large number of people around the municipality building after the verdict was announced.
The mayor first made a phone call to Chief Prosecutor Uçar on Sept. 23, 2022, but could not reach him. Uçar called him back on Sept. 26, only to hear harsh words from Imamoğlu. The mayor told him he represented “16 million people” and the prosecutor should have answered his first call. He also questioned why he shut down the perimeter of the courthouse.
The chief prosecutor told him it was not his decision and the governorate ordered the shutdown. “I’ll call the governor. I will not let this go. I will follow up on this. I will come to your room and tell this to your face,” Imamoğlu lashed out at Uçar. The mayor also told him that the chief prosecutor “wasted his time with a ridiculous indictment.” Uçar reported the call to the Board of Judges and Prosecutors and the Justice Ministry.
On Wednesday, Imamoğlu continued his belligerent rhetoric toward officials. He said he would bring everything down if he and his administration are the “only people accused” in a case involving the recruitment of people associated with terrorist groups by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB).
Imamoğlu, cited in the Interior Ministry’s reports for the mass hiring of people linked to terrorist groups, claimed at a press conference in Istanbul that the former mayor and Istanbul governor should also be held accountable for hirings as they “did not run background checks for recruits.”
“The minister of justice acts smart and remains silent. But make no mistake, we will bring everything down if only me and other administrators are accused,” he warned.
Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ denounced Imamoğlu’s remarks. "Imamoğlu openly threatens our judges and prosecutors with his remarks. He is trying to influence a fair trial. He says he will bring everything down if he cannot get a ruling in his favor. His comments are unacceptable before the law,” he said on Wednesday.
Bozdağ further maintained that people resorting to threatening language for court verdicts against them, "represent a primitive mindset which could not comprehend the laws and a state ruled by law. Türkiye has suffered much from this primitive mindset," the minister said. Bozdağ underlined that judges and prosecutors acted in line with laws and the mayor's actions, "making the judiciary a target while a legal process is underway, is unacceptable."
"I call upon Imamoğlu to adopt a clean, respectful rhetoric toward the laws, courts and judiciary. He tries to rise from where he fell into politically by engaging in a fight against the ministers of justice and interior, judiciary, by blaming the government," he said, referring to the mayor's accusations toward Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu over the terror probe he claimed as biased.
"I recommend him to occupy himself with resolving the problems of Istanbul instead of a dispute with Türkiye's governance," Minister Bozdağ said.
Bozdağ lamented that court verdicts were not assessed upon their compliance with Constitution and laws but "on a political scale." "If the verdict favors them, people applaud judges but if it is against them, they squarely blame the judges," he said.
He added the rulings should not be disputed by politicians or anyone else. "Make no mistake, our judges and prosecutors are not alone (in the face of threats). Our state, Constitution and laws always support them and we have mechanisms in place to protect them against impertinent people," he added.
