A Turkish court jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Sunday pending trial, state media and other broadcasters said, in a move likely to stoke the country's biggest protests in more than decade.
The decision to send Imamoglu - who is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival - to prison comes after the main opposition party, European leaders and tens of thousands of protesters criticized the actions against him as politicized.
The court said Imamoglu and at least 20 others were jailed as part of a corruption investigation. A separate ruling on a terror-related investigation has yet to be issued.
The formal arrest came as his opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, began holding a primary presidential election to endorse Imamoglu as its presidential candidate despite the arrest.
The party has also set up symbolic ballot boxes nationwide — called “solidarity boxes” — to allow people who are not party members to express their support to the mayor.
