In this case, the editor-in-chief of the Tele1 channel, Merdan Yanardağ, and Nejatı Özkan, advisor and head of the mayor's election campaign, were also arrested. Court rulings state that İmamoğlu and Özkan allegedly planned to fraudulently gain advantages in the 2019 elections by accessing personal information of voters and their correspondence on social media, which led to a data leak. The prosecution claims that they transmitted information about citizens to foreign intelligence services.
According to information from the newspaper Sozcu, the testimony of Hüseyin Güna, who was arrested in July on espionage charges and accused of financing terrorists, formed the basis for the court's decision. The case materials indicate that he had contacts with Nejatı Özkan. The investigation believes that Merdan Yanardağ, who took the position of editor-in-chief of Tele1 under Güna's leadership, organized the channel's work in the interests of his superior.
İmamoğlu was arrested in March of this year and sentenced in July to one year and eight months in prison for insulting a public official. Additionally, a criminal case has been initiated against him on corruption charges. Since early March, about 500 people have been arrested in Turkey, mostly members of the CHP, including mayors and municipal workers from Istanbul, Antalya, Bursa, Çanakkale, Giresun, and Trabzon.
