A Turkish court has issued a complete ban on the distribution and sale of a new book written by the ousted and imprisoned Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Turkish Minit website reported, quoted by BTA.
The court ruling, published on August 27, states that the ban concerns the book “The People Are My Witness” („Millet Şahidimdir”), which outlines İmamoğlu’s defense in the ongoing trial against him and 414 other defendants.
In the trial, İmamoğlu is accused of forming an organized crime group, corruption, improper practices, bribery and a number of other crimes, with Turkish prosecutors seeking up to 2,352 years in prison for him and lesser sentences for dozens of his alleged accomplices.
The planned publication of the book is a response to an earlier refusal by the court to consider İmamoğlu's defense in the ongoing trial against him. After the court ruling was announced, İmamoğlu announced on social media that police teams had entered the printing house where his new book was being prepared and seized all copies printed so far. “I will not give up, I will not be silent and I will not surrender“, İmamoğlu wrote in his post on the subject, adding that millions will read his book.
The leader of the Turkish opposition “New Party” Özgür Özel also reacted to the ban, accusing the Turkish authorities of trying to hide İmamoğlu's defense from the public and reiterated his call for the trial against Imamoglu to be broadcast live on Turkish television.