Silivri (Turkey) (AFP) - The trial of Istanbul’s jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu began on Monday in a sprawling corruption case critics say is a politically motivated bid to scupper his chances of challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Closely watched by observers both at home and abroad, the mass trial involving more than 400 defendants has been denounced by rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, who cite a “weaponisation” of Turkey’s justice system to remove political opponents.

Arrested on March 19 last year and jailed ever since, Imamoglu appeared at the Silivri court for the opening of a sweeping graft case in which prosecutors want him jailed for 2,430 years.

But the trial got off to a bumpy start, with the judge suspending proceedings after barely 15 minutes.

When it resumed several hours later, the main defence lawyers demanded the judge recuse himself on grounds of procedural irregularities and a lack of impartiality.

Cheers of “We are proud of you!” erupted from the gallery as Imamoglu and scores of other defendants entered the courtroom, the mayor’s team and journalists in the room wrote on X.

Widely seen as one of the only politicians capable of defeating Erdogan at the ballot box, Imamoglu was thrown in prison on the day he was named the presidential candidate for the main opposition CHP party.

Among those present in court were CHP leader Ozgur Ozel and Imamoglu’s wife Dilek, as well as diplomatic representatives from Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and several other nations, diplomatic sources said.

- ‘Shame, shame!’ -

At the open, the judge said Imamoglu would be one of the last to testify, prompting the mayor – who is the principal accused – to ask to speak sooner.

The judge refused, drawing cries of “Shame, shame!” from the gallery.

Then when a defence lawyer asked why the order of witnesses had been leaked to a pro-government newspaper but not supplied to the defence team, the judge cleared the court and suspended the session.

When it resumed some three hours later, the judge rejected a request from one of Imamoglu’s lawyers that he recuse himself, a demand echoed by several other lawyers.

They also complained the court had not followed procedure – there was no reading out of a summary of the indictment, nor any move to establish whether all defendants were present.

As the hearing drew to a close, Imamoglu could be heard shouting, in reference to the judge: “If he’s got any guts, he’ll let these people go and face me alone,” drawing applause from the gallery, his team wrote on X.

The hearing was adjourned just before 5:00 pm, with the court due to reconvene on Tuesday at 10:00 am.

- ‘Like an octopus’ -

Prosecutors have charged 54-year-old Imamoglu with 142 offences, ranging from graft to embezzlement and espionage, alongside more than 400 other defendants, in an indictment that runs nearly 4,000 pages.

They accuse him of running a sprawling criminal network over which he exerted influence “like an octopus”.

With all protests around the courthouse banned, supporters gathered at a nearby CHP encampment by a mockup of Imamoglu’s jail cell, an AFP correspondent said.

“If he had not announced his presidential candidacy, he would still be in office as mayor,” said Kadim Tasbilek, a 58-year-old retiree, who denounced the trial as “a political coup”.

“This case is political. I don’t believe there’s any corruption,” agreed Hulya Ozturk, a 74-year-old pensioner.

Since CHP won a resounding victory in the March 2024 local elections against Erdogan’s ruling AKP, it has faced a sweeping legal crackdown and 15 of its mayors are now behind bars.

“This prosecution bears the hallmarks of an attempt to intimidate political opponents of the government and silence wider dissent in the country,” said Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Europe.

Analysts say Imamoglu almost certainly will not be able to run in the next presidential race.

Even if he’s acquitted in this trial, he faced another case challenging the validity of his university degree – a constitutional requirement for presidential candidates.

Should he be barred, observers expect CHP’s Ozel to run in the next presidential race, due by mid-2028.