Sawt Falasteen - 'We are not afraid,' jailed Istanbul mayor tells court

Ekrem Imamoglu, key rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, appeared in court on charges of allegedly seeking to influence a fair trial in one of several cases brought against him.

Prosecutors called for Imamoglu to face up to four years behind bars in that particular case and be subjected to a political ban.

Speaking from a courtroom in Silivri on the western outskirts of Istanbul, where Imamoglu has been held since March, he dismissed the charges as politically motivated and described the case against him as driven by fear at the highest levels of power.

"This is called 'Ekrem fear'", he said, addressing the judge directly. "People love me -- but one person, clearly, is afraid," he added, in a pointed reference to Erdogan.

"They see us as a threat -- they are afraid of the name Ekrem Imamoglu."

Imamoglu, 54, was on trial over remarks he made at a January press conference about a single court-appointed expert witness involved in cases against town halls run by his opposition CHP party.

Friday's trial was one of several investigations targeting Imamoglu, the CHP's candidate for the 2028 presidential election, but it is not connected to the graft probe that led to his arrest in March, which sparked Turkey's worst street protests in over a decade.

Prosecutors called for Imamoglu to face up to four years behind bars in that particular case and be subjected to a political ban.

While Imamoglu faces the most high-profile legal battle, his CHP party is also under mounting pressure, with a wave of arrests and legal challenges even aimed at its leadership.

"Turkey is facing a regime and a president that instrumentalise the judiciary to eliminate dissidents and those who think differently -- through pre-dawn operations and arbitrary detentions," Imamoglu told the judge.

"I will fight against them. For the past 11 months, we have been subjected to operations driven by a mindset that controls the judiciary from Ankara," he said, referring to Erdogan's government.

But Imamoglu said he would remain defiant.

"They are attacking the CHP, trying to shut it down, using the judiciary as a tool. Let them attack. We are not afraid, and we will not be afraid," he said.

"Every system built on injustice has collapsed, and this one will collapse too. I trust in this nation."

Imamoglu's wife, Dilek Kaya, and other party members were also at the hearing to support the mayor.

The judge said the next trial is scheduled for December 12.

-'President Imamoglu!'-

Imamoglu walked into the courtroom with a standing ovation and applause from the ranks of defence lawyers, party supporters and the audience.

"President Imamoglu!" they shouted.

With dossiers in hand, Imamoglu waved at the audience.

In relation to Friday's trial, Imamoglu's office said that although Istanbul has 8,806 registered expert witnesses, the same individual was appointed to 24 separate cases involving CHP municipalities.

They described the statistical likelihood of this as "zero," which they said raised concerns over judicial impartiality.

In court, Imamoglu blasted it as "a case with no solid basis at all".

In his defence, Imamoglu also referred to Erdogan's meeting on Thursday at the White House with US President Donald Trump, who thanked the Turkish leader for helping secure the release of a US pastor in 2018.

He said this was a clear example of how Erdogan's government uses the judiciary as a tool and added this should profoundly sadden "every member of the esteemed judiciary".

"Has history ever recorded a more direct intervention than this?"

J.AbuHassan--SF-PST