CHP's Murat Emir announced the information received from the lawyers of IBB mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. According to the information, Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested on financial charges and released from the terrorism investigation without a judicial control order.

CHP member Murat Emir made a statement to Halk TV about the mystery surrounding the news of the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Emir explained that Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested on financial charges and released from the terrorism investigation without a judicial control order.

Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, was arrested in the corruption investigation, while he was released from the urban reconciliation investigation without a judicial control decision.

Arrest chaos

The news about the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has become a mystery.

Starting from the corridors of the courthouse, the news reflected in the press stated that İmamoğlu was arrested in the corruption investigation and released in the urban reconciliation investigation under the condition of judicial control.

CHP deputy group leader Murat Emir told Halk TV that no decision had yet been made in the 'aiding a terrorist organisation' investigation. Emir said: 'We are in the corridor, no such decision has been made. Information may have been leaked from inside, it may be disinformation.

Journalist Alican Uludağ informed the public about the statements of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding these news reports. According to this, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office made a statement to the communication group of journalists and said: 'Friends, the interrogation is still going on, let's not make irresponsible news. The decision has not yet been announced in both the terrorism and corruption interrogations.

Immediately afterwards, the Istanbul Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor in charge of terrorism also made a statement to journalists on the Whatsapp group of the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office: 'There are still news that he has been arrested in some places, these news are considered to harm the investigation, I warn you again, do not rely on anything other than my statement.

Primary election day

CHP leader Özgür Özel and Ekrem İmamoğlu's wife Dilek İmamoğlu and their son left the peace court and went to vote in the presidential primary.

Özgür Çelik, head of the Istanbul branch of the CHP, also invited the people of Istanbul to Saraçhane after voting. Çelik said, 'They won't be able to get us out of here, women and young people are here, I invite all Istanbulites to Saraçhane after casting their votes. Whatever the conditions, we will protect the ballot box. After the voting is over, the ballot boxes will be meticulously counted. After it has been meticulously done, our minutes will be sent to the District Information Officers. Our chairman will announce the results. Mr Ekrem sent me a message before he was arrested: This ballot box must be set up under all circumstances; the process is entrusted to our colleagues'.

Voting has begun in the presidential primaries in which the CHP, IBB Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, is the only candidate. Voting started at 8:00 a.m. in 5,600 ballot boxes set up in 81 provinces and 973 districts. Voting will end at 17.00.

What happened?

Imamoğlu, who was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday 19 March at his home in Istanbul, gave his statement to the prosecutor at the Istanbul Çağlayan Court on Saturday 22 March after four days in custody. Imamoğlu, who has been questioned by the police and the prosecutor's office in two separate investigations, denied all the accusations and described the operation as a political conspiracy, saying: "A trial that will go down as a black mark in history has taken place. I will not submit to this judicial harassment.

As a result of the two operations, arrest warrants were issued for 106 people, including Ekrem İmamoğlu, and a total of 92 people were detained. (EVRENSEL DAILY)