Imamoglu’s lawyer detained amid ongoing protests in Turkey
Jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said on Friday that his lawyer had been detained.
“My lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan was detained on fictitious grounds,” Imamoglu wrote in a post on X, published via his legal team.
Pehlivan represented Imamoglu during his court appearance on corruption charges on Sunday.
Imamoglu, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political opponent, was arrested last week. The arrest came shortly before Imamoglu was expected to announce his intention to run for president and sparked the largest anti-government protests in Turkey in a decade.
Since then, Turkish authorities have arrested almost 1,900 people, including protesters and journalists.
Media crackdown over protest coverage
Meanwhile, the Turkish Journalists’ Union (TGS) said two more Turkish journalists were detained in dawn raids on their homes for covering the mass protests.
The union identified them as Nisa Sude Demirel, a reporter for the Evrensel newspaper, and Elif Bayburt, who works for the ETHA news agency.
On Thursday, Turkish authorities released the last of 11 journalists who had been arrested in dawn raids on Monday.
BBC correspondent Mark Lowen was also deported from Turkey on Thursday for reporting on the protests, the broadcaster said.
Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK) also imposed fines on four broadcasters over coverage related to arrests. Sanctions were issued against programs aired on SZC TV, Tele1, Halk TV, and NOW TV for alleged violations.
SZC TV was ordered to halt broadcasting for 10 days.
Protests continue
The CHP has called for protests to continue, and there were fresh protests overnight into Friday. A reporter from AFP observed that police were rounding up student demonstrators and taking them away.
Erdogan has dismissed the protests as a “show” and warned of legal consequences for protesters.
Most of the ongoing demonstrations have been largely peaceful, but police and protesters have clashed at some rallies. Police used water cannons, tear gas, plastic pellets, and pepper spray to break up protests that have been banned in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir.
Edited by Sean Sinco
