Istanbul, Apr. 25, (dpa/GNA) – A Turkish court on Thursday postponed a trial into fraud allegations against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu to the end of May, his spokeswoman told dpa.
İmamoğlu faces imprisonment and a political ban if found guilty in the case. He is accused of fraud relating to public tenders when he led Istanbul’s Beylikduzu district in 2015.
His lawyer Kemal Polat denies the allegations as “lies” and politically-motivated.
The hearing will resume on May 31.
An open critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, İmamoğlu is considered a potential challenger in a future presidential election.
He won the election for Istanbul mayor in March for the second time in a row.
İmamoğlu was already sentenced to a ban from politics in a separate court case. The decision, however, is not yet final.