An Istanbul court ordered the conditional release on Thursday of 15 people on trial in a case of alleged corruption involving the city’s opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the municipality said.
Imamoglu, considered the most serious rival to longtime President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been imprisoned for over a year, and is not among the defendants being released.
He is accused of running a vast criminal network, faces 142 charges and, if convicted, risks 2,430 years in prison.
The Istanbul Municipality said in a statement the court ordered the release of 15 defendants under judicial control measures.
Those released included several Istanbul municipality staff, Imamoglu’s bodyguard and three businessmen, one of whom admitted to some of the accusations levelled by the prosecution, it added.
Businessman Adem Soytekin gave contradictory testimony throughout the trial, according to the municipality, saying he had received $500,000 while denying it constituted a bribe.
His conflicting testimony drew sharp criticism from the defence.
Eighteen other defendants, including Imamoglu’s chief of staff, had already been released in early April following an interim ruling, without the charges against them being dropped.
Imamoglu has been on trial with 413 co-defendants since March 9.
Seventy-seven of the accused remain in custody.
Istanbul Bar Association head Ibrahim Kaboglu condemned the proceedings as a “political trial”.
He told AFP the pre-trial detentions of the 77 were mostly “unconstitutional”.
Imamoglu and his supporters accuse the Turkish government of doing everything to prevent him challenging Erdogan in the next presidential election, scheduled for 2028.
