Turkish opposition leader jailed for ‘insulting' prosecutor
The case, which pre-dates his arrest, stems from comments he made on January 20 in which he criticised Istanbul chief public prosecutor Akin Gurlek, accusing him of targeting opposition figures through alleged politically motivated investigations.
The court on Wednesday convicted Mr Imamoglu of insulting and threatening Mr Gurlek but acquitted him of the charge of publicly identifying him with the intent of making him a target.
Mr Imamoglu, regarded as the main challenger to Mr Erdogan's more than two-decade-rule, has denied the accusations.
The mayor was arrested alongside other politicians from the main opposition party as part of investigations into alleged corruption. His arrest triggered the largest street protests in Turkey in more than a decade.
Despite being behind bars, he was officially nominated as the presidential candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party, or CHP. Elections are due to be held in 2028 but may come sooner.
Since Mr Imamoglu's arrest, dozens of officials from CHP-controlled municipalities have faced waves of arrests as part of investigations into alleged tender rigging and bribery.
The arrests have drawn widespread criticism from opposition leaders, who argue that the charges are politically motivated.
Mr Imamoglu has described the trial as 'punishment, not justice' and accused the judiciary of acting under government pressure.
Mr Erdogan's government insists that the courts are impartial and free of political involvement.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
5 hours ago
- NBC News
He survived a mass execution at 17. Now he's fighting disinformation and denialism.
SREBRENICA, Bosnia — Nedzad Avdic stood on a gravel plateau with four men and boys with their hands tied behind their backs, preparing for death. Just 17, Avdic had been captured by Bosnian Serb forces days earlier. Now, he stood yards from an execution squad. Avdic said he heard shots, felt sharp pain in his right side and right arm and blacked out. When he woke up, more prisoners were being lined up for execution. When the small truck that brought him to the site drove away, Avdic and another wounded man escaped in the darkness. After walking to the woods for days, they crossed into Muslim-controlled central Bosnia. Last week, Avdic recounted his experience to members of the German parliament at an event in Berlin marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the United Nations-protected 'safe area' of Srebrenica. Two international courts have ruled that Bosnian Serbs' systematic killing of male Bosnian Muslim prisoners — at least 7,000 in total — was the first genocide in Europe since World War II. The following day, members of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD party, argued in parliament that the mass killings did not constitute genocide. 'The Serbs shot men there, but generally spared women and children,' Alexander Wolf said in a speech. A second AfD member, Martin Sichert, invoked a conspiracy theory, warning that Muslims were waging a 'birth jihad' in Germany, a reference to Muslim immigrants' someday outnumbering Germans. 'Srebrenica reminds us to end multiculturalism before it's too late,' Sichert warned. As disinformation spreads online, denialism about war crimes — both past and ongoing— is growing increasingly common worldwide, experts warn. From current conflicts in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza to past atrocities in Syria, Bosnia and Rwanda, as well as the Holocaust, basic facts are now disputed or dismissed. Denialism is proving politically profitable, as well. In February, the AfD won the second most seats in Germany's parliament, the best showing by a far-right party since World War II. In Bosnia, a local Serb leader, Milorad Dodik, has gained support by spreading conspiracy theories about Srebrenica, calling it 'an arranged tragedy.' He dismisses the identification of 6,981 victims — part of the largest DNA identification project in history— as a hoax. Dodik's office and the AfD did not immediately respond to requests for comment or proof of their claims. At a conference in Srebrenica marking the 30th anniversary of the mass killings here, the heads of the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda and the Auschwitz-Birkenau and Stutthof concentration camp museums in Poland warned that spreading lies online about war crimes has also become financially profitable. War crimes denialism generates so much traffic online that making money — not political or ideological gain — appears to motivate some of its purveyors. At one point, the directors discussed whether better influencers might help, and several of them agreed that they could. Avdic is determined to be one of them. As denialism spreads, he is more determined than ever to use what is left of his life to speak for the men and boys who died beside him on that gravel 30 years ago. 'It's becoming more aggressive day by day,' he said, referring to denialism. 'You have to know that we are all foreign bodies on this Earth, and we will all evaporate naturally sooner or later.' A U.N.-protected 'safe area' I first met Avdic 30 years ago covering the war in Bosnia as a reporter for The Christian Science Monitor. After the fall of Srebrenica, rumors spread that Bosnian Muslim men were describing mass executions. Avdic, then a shell-shocked teenager whose father was later found in a mass grave, was one of nine men who told me they had survived mass executions. When I later visited the gravel plateau beside an earthen dam in the village of Petkovci, I found two human femurs. Avdic and his father were among the roughly 10,000 Bosnian Muslim men who fled Srebrenica on foot when Bosnian Serb forces attacked in July 1995. The surrounded town had been declared an internationally protected 'safe area,' but the United States, Europe and 600 Dutch UN peacekeepers did little to protect it Women, children and elderly men took refuge at a large battery factory that Dutch peacekeepers had turned into their main base. And men, most of them unarmed, set off through the woods on a 60-mile trek to Muslim-controlled central Bosnia. When Serb forces attacked the column, Avdic and his father were separated in the chaos. 'I lost him,' Avdic recalled. 'I lost him immediately.' He continued walking with strangers but was eventually captured. Two days later, he and other men were taken to the gravel plateau, and the executions began. Needing to speak For the next 12 years, Avdic testified at war crimes trials about the executions under a pseudonym and lived far from Srebrenica, fearing for his safety. In 2007, he returned to Srebrenica, his hometown. He and other Bosnian Muslims felt a duty to return to the area and preserve its Muslim community. Avdic, who had grown up in a village outside the town and also lost four uncles and three cousins in the killings, found being in Srebrenica comforting. 'I have less nightmares,' he said, shrugging his shoulders. 'I cannot explain it.' In 2014, when he visited the execution site during an event with mothers of the victims, he was filled with a desire to speak publicly about the mass killing he survived. 'When I came to the place, something forced me to say something; I felt a strong need to talk,' he said. 'Words started to flow, something stronger than me.' He met his wife, Elvisa, a Bosnian Muslim survivor whose uncle and cousin also died in the executions, in Srebrenica in 2008. The following year, they married. Today, Nedzad works as a manager at a company in Srebrenica that produces parts for luxury car interiors. Elvisa works at a local meteorological station. They have three daughters who attend local school alongside Serb children. Serbs and Muslims coexist but generally don't discuss the war. 'Hatred destroys, first of all, those who hate,' Avdic said. In recent years, Avdic has given dozens of speeches about the massacres in multiple countries and called for the protection of civilians in Ukraine and Syria. Speaking about Srebrenica is difficult but cathartic. 'It was my choice to go to Berlin,' he said. 'It is not something that I wish. It is emotional, and it is difficult for me.' Local Bosnian Muslims have transformed the cavernous former car battery factory that Dutch U.N. peacekeepers used as a base into a museum documenting the genocide. Across the street, the headstones of the thousands of Muslim men and boys killed in the massacres cover a lush green field and hillside. In recent years, though, Muslims have slowly left Srebrenica, many of them citing economic and safety concerns. Once a majority-Muslim town, Srebrenica is now roughly half-Serb, half-Muslim. Elvisa, Avdic's wife, said she worries about her children's future. 'I was 13 years old then in 1995. My daughter is now 13 years old,' she said. 'Now, I'm more emotional about that time. When we are older, we care more and we feel more.' 'Our grandmother was killed,' she added. 'They cut her throat.' Denial and threats Avdic said provocations still happen, including when a local priest once played Serb nationalist songs to taunt Muslim residents. 'He will die with his evil,' Avdic said of the priest. As denialism spreads, Serb nationalists have grown more defiant. In nearby towns, Avdic is sometimes recognized and mocked by them. 'I'm not afraid of them,' he said, though he acknowledged the danger. 'You never know what could happen, because I'm a witness.' Avdic and his wife are torn. Leaving Srebrenica might be better for their children, but Avdic believes it is his duty to raise his family here and speak for the men and boys who died beside him. 'I will die proud,' he said. 'And I believe my children will be proud they were born here.'
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
Trump signs 'Genius Act,' delivering major win to crypto industry
"This could be perhaps the greatest revolution in financial technology since the birth of the internet itself. A lot of people are saying that," Trump said. "What do you guys think? If you say yes, I'm saying yes." Trump signed the legislation while surrounded by Republican lawmakers who sponsored the bill and crypto executives. "Nobody's gained the respect in such a short period of time," Trump said. "This signing is a massive validation of your hard work and your pioneering spirit and your ability to never give up." More: What's a stablecoin? House passes landmark bills to regulate the cryptocurrency Crypto advocates have argued the law will protect consumers and set industry standards that could allow stablecoins to become mainstream for digital payments and other financial instruments. Trump's signature came after the House of Representatives this week voted 308-122, with all Republicans and several Democrats voting in favor, to approve the legislation after the Senate voted for the bill in June. "It's a very important act. The Genius Act. They named it after me," said Trump, drawing laughs from supporters. Trump campaigned in the 2024 election on supporting crypto-friendly policies in a departure from the Biden administration. "It's good for the dollar and it's good for the country. And that's why I backed you at an early stage," Trump said. "And I also did it for the votes - because you did come out and vote, I will say." In short time, Trump has built a cozy relationship with the lucrative crypto industry and embraced the digital currency to boost his own personal wealth since returning to the White House in January. Trump has made $620 million from his crypto ventures during his second White House, a Bloomberg analysis found. That includes about $460 million from World Liberty Financial, a decentralized financial company and platform that sells its own branded tokens. The Trump family has stake in the venture. Trump's meme coin, called $TRUMP, has also earned an estimated $320 million in fees, according to Reuters, but it is unclear how much has gone toward a Trump-controlled entity and its partners. More: Trump's crypto dinner: Black ties, a Chinese billionaire and ethics questions In May, Trump hosted a dinner at his Virginia golf club for 220 investors who plowed a combined $148 million into his crypto venture, the $TRUMP meme coin, raising ethics concerns from Democrats and other critics. Democrats pointed to Trump's growing ties to the crypto world in criticizing the legislation. "The Genius Act will accelerate Trump's corruption by supercharging the size of the stablecoin market and the reach and profitability of Trump's USD1," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, on the Senate floor in May. "And, for the first time in American history, this bill will make our President, Donald Trump, the regulator of his own financial product." The Republican-controlled House this week also approved two other crypto bills that still require sign off from the Senate. One measure, which cleared by a 219-210 vote with only Republican support, would bar the Federal Reserve from creating a central bank for cryptocurrency. Another bill, known as the Clarity Act, would establish cryptocurrency regulations pushed by the industry including weakening the Securities and Exchange Commission's oversight of cryptocurrency. It passed by a 294-134 vote, with 78 House Democrats joining Republicans. "We're going to be growing it even more," Trump said of the crypto industry, "more than anyone ever thought." Contributing: Reuters Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarriosn.
NBC News
3 days ago
- NBC News
Trump's cuts to NPR, PBS and foreign aid clear Congress
WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House voted 216-213 to give final passage to a bill cutting $9 billion in spending that had already been approved, sending it to President Donald Trump to become law. The cuts aimed at public media and foreign aid passed in another middle-of-the-night vote on Capitol Hill, one day after the Senate voted 51-48 after 2 a.m. on Thursday to approve the measure. The measure cuts $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funding for NPR and PBS. It cuts another $8 billion from foreign aid, including to USAID and programs to promote global health and refugee assistance. But planned cuts to PEPFAR were removed from the package in recent days, leaving funding for the popular Bush-era foreign aid program to combat HIV/AIDS intact. The package, which was requested by the White House, passed both chambers with only Republican votes through a rarely used 'rescissions' process that can bypass the 60-vote threshold in the Senate. GOP leaders touted it as a bid to slash 'woke and wasteful' spending by the government. 'This bill tonight is part of continuing that trend of getting spending under control. Does it answer all the problems? No. $9 billion I would say, is a good start, and hopefully we do more things like this,' said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. Democrats unified to oppose the package, slamming the cuts as cruel, detrimental to American leadership and a cynical attempt by the GOP to appear fiscally responsible after adding $3.3 trillion to the debt in their party-line megabill that passed Congress earlier this month. The House vote came after Republican leaders quelled a rebellion from their members on the Rules Committee who wanted a vote requiring the government to release files relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an issue that has divided the MAGA wing of the party in recent days. They placated those GOP lawmakers by approving a separate 'rule,' setting up a vote as soon as next week on a symbolic resolution calling for the release of certain Epstein documents. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who has proposed a separate Epstein-related measure that would carry the force of law, called the move by his party's leaders a stunt. 'Congress thinks you're stupid,' Massie said on X. 'The rules committee passed a NON-BINDING Epstein resolution, hoping folks will accept it as real. It forces the release of NOTHING.' Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said the Massie proposal, co-authored by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., has 'teeth.' By contrast, he said, the version Republicans are advancing is 'a meaningless, hortatory, fig leaf, Swiss cheese resolution that has no teeth at all.' 'It doesn't even have dentures. It's all cavities,' Raskin said. (Democrats, eager to fan the flames of Republican infighting, have embraced to push to release Epstein documents). Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, called the domestic cuts an attempt to 'defund left-wing state sponsored outlets.' Other Republicans — most notably Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who voted against the measure — warned that the NPR and PBS cuts could be damaging to rural areas that rely on public broadcasting. 'The public will remember who stood with Big Bird, and who strangled him,' said Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M. The bill had to return to the House after the Senate trimmed it downward from $9.4 billion, removing $400 million in proposed cuts to PEPFAR, which numerous Republicans said they support. Prior to the vote, top Democrats in both chambers warned that the GOP was strangling the bipartisan nature of government funding by undoing previously approved spending on a partisan basis. They also said the rescissions package cedes too much power the executive branch. 'I am deeply fearful that, at a time when appropriators must come together to defend our power of the purse, the path the majority has chosen will only survive to degrade the efficacy and credibility of what we are doing in this room,' Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, said before the House vote.
