Two İstanbul courts on Thursday ruled for the release of at least 107 people, mostly university students, who had been put in pretrial detention for participating in protests sparked by the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu last month.
İmamoğlu, widely seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s strongest political rival, was arrested on March 23 on corruption charges, which many critics view as politically motivated. His detention on March 19 ignited widespread protests, the largest in Turkey since 2013, escalating political tensions.
Nearly 2,000 people, including university students, were detained during the protests, with more than 270 of them formally arrested. A statement from the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday revealed that criminal charges have been filed against 819 people as part of 20 investigations launched in response to the protests over İmamoğlu’s arrest.
Among the 829 suspects identified in the investigations, 819 have now been charged in criminal courts. Of those, 278 remain in pretrial detention, the prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.
They are charged with violating Turkey’s law on public meetings and demonstrations.
The protests took place amid a ban imposed by the İstanbul Governor’s Office on demonstrations in the city between March 19 and 23 following İmamoğlu’s detention.
One of the individuals released is 22-year-old Berkay Gezgin, known for coining the slogan “Everything will be beautiful,” which became a rallying cry during İmamoğlu’s 2019 mayoral campaign. At the time Gezgin was just 16 and quickly became a symbol of youth support for İmamoğlu. He was elected to the party council of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) during an extraordinary party congress in Ankara on Sunday.
Gezgin was detained on March 22 after protesting outside İstanbul City Hall in Saraçhane and was later transferred to Marmara Prison (commonly referred to as Silivri Prison) in İstanbul, where İmamoğlu is also being held.
The İstanbul courts’ rulings followed a review of several factors, including the nature of the charges, the significant amount of evidence already collected and the fact that many of the detainees are students. These individuals face the additional challenges of continuing their education, preparing for exams and, in some cases, dealing with medical conditions, the court said. Legal documentation was provided to support these claims.
The court also took into account that the suspects do not pose a flight risk.
Many say the arrest of İmamoğlu is politically motivated to sideline the mayor ahead of the next presidential election slated for 2028.
His arrest, in addition to sparking large protests, has attracted widespread condemnation from Europe, the UN and other international organizations.