A Turkish court jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Sunday pending trial, state media and other broadcasters said, in a move likely to stoke the country’s biggest protests in more than decade.
The decision to send Imamoglu – who is President Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival – to prison comes after the main opposition party, European leaders and tens of thousands of protesters criticised the actions against him as politicised.
The court said Imamoglu and at least 20 others were jailed as part of a corruption investigation. A separate ruling on a terror-related investigation has yet to be issued.
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