A court on Monday night ordered the arrest of former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on espionage charges in connection with the 2019 elections, Turkish Sözcü TV channel reported.
The Istanbul prosecutor's office opened a criminal case against Imamoglu and several other officials on October 24 on suspicion of espionage. They are suspected of contributing to the leak of confidential data of 4.7 million voters during the 2019 mayoral elections, which was passed on to foreign intelligence services.
The leader of the opposition Republican People's Party, Özgür Özel, called the court's decision a violation of the Constitution, saying it was an attempt to prevent Imamoglu from participating in the presidential elections.
It should be recalled that Istanbul University decided in March to revoke the diplomas of Imamoglu and 27 others at the request of the country's general prosecutor's office, which prevents him from running for president.
