Summary
- Ruling likely to stoke tension after four days of protests
- Imamoglu’s arrest criticised broadly as politicised
- Mayor released under controls over separate terror charge
- Ankara says courts independent, warn opposition party
- Hundreds detained after latest nationwide protests
ISTANBUL, March 23 – A Turkish court jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Sunday pending trial on graft charges, state media and other broadcasters said, in a move likely to stoke the country’s biggest protests against President Tayyip Erdogan’s government in more than decade.
The decision to send Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main political rival, to prison comes after the main opposition party, European leaders and tens of thousands of protesters criticised the actions against him as politicised and undemocratic.