Turkish authorities have detained the lawyer of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's biggest political rival, the jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a member of the Republican People's Party (CHP) who leads Erdogan in some polls, Reuters reported.
He has been in jail since Sunday awaiting trial on bribery charges that sparked the biggest anti-government protests in a decade, which in turn led to mass arrests across the country.
Mehmet Pehlivan, a lawyer who defended Imamoglu in the latest investigation, was detained "on fabricated grounds," CHP lawmaker Turan Taskin Özer said in an op-ed in the "Ex" newspaper, without giving details.
Imamoglu, who is temporarily suspended from work for case, demanded the immediate release of his lawyer.
“As if the coup against democracy was not enough, they cannot stand the victims of this coup defending themselves,“ Imamoglu said in “Ex”.