An İstanbul court has ruled that a ban imposed on protests and press statements across the city in March following the detention of popular İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was unlawful, according to a statement by the İstanbul Bar Association.
The İstanbul 3rd Administrative Court annulled restrictions enforced between March 19 and 23, which barred public assemblies, demonstrations and press briefings citywide.
The bans were introduced after İmamoğlu, a leading figure in the main opposition Republican People’s Party and its presidential candidate for the next election, was detained on March 19 and placed in pretrial detention on March 23 in what critics described as a politically motivated corruption investigation. İmamoğlu is widely seen as the most powerful political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
19–23 MART 2025 TARİHLİ TOPLANTI, GÖSTERİ VE BASIN AÇIKLAMASI YASAĞI İPTAL EDİLDİ.
İstanbul Barosu’nun açtığı dava sonucunda, 19–23 Mart 2025 tarihleri arasında İstanbul’u fiilen olağanüstü hâl koşullarına sürükleyen, kent yaşamını durma noktasına getiren toplantı, gösteri ve… pic.twitter.com/ClHeLanobI
— İstanbul Barosu (@istbarosu) December 16, 2025
The court found that the measures amounted to a general and disproportionate suspension of fundamental rights and were incompatible with the rule of law, the bar association announced in a statement on X on Tuesday.
İmamoğlu’s detention triggered widespread protests, with thousands gathering outside İstanbul City Hall in Saraçhane at the call of the opposition party. Demonstrations quickly escalated into nightly clashes with riot police and spread to several cities across Turkey, marking the country’s most serious street unrest in more than a decade.
The court said blanket bans that apply across an entire province and are imposed without specific and compelling justification cannot be reconciled with democratic legal standards.
The İstanbul Bar Association said the ruling confirmed the unlawfulness of mass detentions carried out during the period, when hundreds of people were taken into custody amid the enforcement of the bans.
Nearly 2,000 people were detained during the protests, including many students and several journalists. Dozens were later indicted and some remained in pretrial detention for weeks or months.
Most of the defendants were charged with violating Turkey’s Law on Meetings and Demonstrations, an offense carrying sentences of between six months and three years.
In late November, an İstanbul court acquitted 87 protestors, with no defendants remaining on trial in the case.
The İstanbul Bar Association said it would continue to monitor violations of fundamental rights and pursue legal action against unlawful state practices.