İmamoğlu, Özkan and Yanardağ arrested
Ekrem İmamoğlu, Merdan Yanardağ and Necati Özkan were arrested by the Duty Magistrate's Court on charges of ‘political espionage’ as part of a ‘spying’ investigation launched by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has completed the judicial interrogations conducted as part of the investigation launched on allegations of “political espionage” against the detained İBB Mayor and CHP presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, İmamoğlu's campaign director Necati Özkan, and TELE 1 Editor-in-Chief Merdan Yanardağ.
Following the interrogations, an arrest order was issued for İmamoğlu, Özkan, and Yanardağ.
After the detention order, the ‘political espionage’ allegations against İmamoğlu and his associates sparked reactions both in political circles and among the public.
ÖZGÜR ÖZEL: THEY RESORTED TO THE LAST RESORT OF SPYING SLANDER
CHP General President Özgür Özel reacted to Ekrem İmamoğlu's arrest as part of the ‘espionage’ investigation, saying, "If someone is to be tried for data being leaked abroad, then first of all, the former MIT President Hakan Fidan, who stole all of MIT's data, should be tried. Then those eight ministers should be tried. And first and foremost, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan should be tried. Our nation should know that the issue here is this: When the accusations of theft and corruption levelled against our friends failed to stick, they now resorted to the last resort of spying accusations, just like the FETÖ members."
DİLEK KAYA İMAMOĞLU: JUSTICE WILL ONE DAY BE NEEDED BY EVERYONE
Dilek Kaya İmamoğlu reacted to the arrest warrant issued against her husband Ekrem İmamoğlu on charges of ‘espionage’ by saying, ‘This injustice is not against us, but against 86 million people and the future of this country. Justice will one day be needed by everyone.’
Dilek Kaya İmamoğlu posted on her social media account: "In the face of this legal absurdity that reason, logic and conscience cannot accept, I call on all citizens who love their country, bar associations, lawyers, political parties and state officials to take responsibility and stand up for justice and democracy in the face of this lawlessness. It should be known that these accusations will not stick to us because you cannot cover the sun with a sieve. This injustice is not against us, but against 86 million people and the future of this country. Justice will be needed by everyone one day."
TELE 1 CANNOT BE SILENCED
Following the statement by the press professional organisations, the Secularism Assembly and the LEFT Party also issued statements. LEFT Party Spokesperson İsmail Hakkı Tombul said, "Operation was carried out against TELE 1, with Merdan Yanardağ being framed and accused of being a spy. Yanardağ is anti-imperialist. Yanardağ is patriotic. Yanardağ is a journalist. Using this operation against Yanardağ as a pretext, TELE 1 was effectively shut down, seized, and censored. TELE 1 was intended to be silenced. But we know that all media outlets, starting with TELE 1, which enable the public to access real news, are the voice of the people, and the people stand behind them."
