Istanbul’s disgraced former Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, who was suspended from duty earlier on charges of corruption, was detained early Monday for the crime of "political espionage" linked to terrorist groups and foreign states.
Besides Imamoğlu, Necati Özkan, one of the alleged leaders of an Imamoğlu-led crime network and journalist Merdan Yanardağ were also detained within the same case, the investigation of which is continuing.
As part of the investigation, the interrogations of Imamoğlu, Özkan and Yanardağ at the criminal court of peace have been completed.
In its decision, the criminal court of peace stated that the goal of the profit-driven criminal organization, of which Imamoğlu is alleged to be the leader, was to conduct espionage to gain international support, along with acts of corruption aimed at raising funds for his presidential candidacy.
It noted that Özkan and Imamoğlu tried to gain an advantage in
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