A release decision was made for 102 young people, including Berkay Gezgin, who was detained during the Saraçhane protests.
Following the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a court ruling has been made for the release of 102 young individuals among the 139 people prosecuted for participating in the protests in Saraçhane, while house arrest was lifted for 25 others.
On Thursday, a release decision was made for 102 of the young people detained during the protests that began with İmamoğlu's detention. Among those released is Berkay Gezgin, the architect of İmamoğlu's campaign slogan "Everything will be beautiful." The Istanbul 26th Criminal Court noted in its release decision that the charge of "participating unarmed in an unlawful assembly and march and not dispersing despite warnings" is not listed among catalog offenses according to the Criminal Procedure Code. The decision also highlighted that the vast majority of the detained youths are students, whose education is ongoing, and that they are in the exam period. In the case involving the 139 participants in the Saraçhane protests, house arrest was also lifted for 25 individuals.
In 20 investigations opened by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the protests in Istanbul, public cases were launched against 819 of the 829 individuals involved. It was noted that 278 of these individuals are currently in detention. During the protests led by students against İmamoğlu's arrest, police conducted raids at many addresses in Istanbul and Bursa on the morning of March 26, Wednesday, and a large number of people were detained. University students, who decided to boycott classes by declaring an academic boycott, received support from Eğitim-Sen. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office initiated an investigation against Eğitim-Sen officials who supported the students' call for a boycott by going on strike for a day.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that more than 1,900 people have been detained since March 19, the date of İmamoğlu's arrest. The actions of university students are particularly concentrated on university campuses and city centers. The protests that began with İmamoğlu's detention and arrest continue with calls for boycotts and student marches at universities. Student groups from various universities across Turkey called for a boycott on Monday, March 24, and held marches within campuses. In Istanbul, student groups at Yıldız Technical University, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul Technical University, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul University, and Bilgi University, and in Ankara at METU and Hacettepe University, as well as in Izmir at Ege University, Dokuz Eylul University, and Izmir Democracy University, and in Kocaeli at Kocaeli University decided to boycott classes.
What happened? İmamoğlu was detained the day after his diploma from Istanbul University was revoked on March 18, and he was later arrested on March 23 due to a 'corruption' investigation. This entire process followed the investigations opened against the IMM Mayor in recent weeks and came before the CHP's presidential candidacy primary election. At the beginning of these investigations, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had stated, "They also know very well that there are still bigger turnips in the bag. This is the reason for their panic." However, on the same day as İmamoğlu's arrest, he was announced as the CHP's presidential candidate with nearly 15 million votes. Subsequently, he was removed from his position as IMM Mayor by a decision from the Interior Ministry.
The mass protests triggered by İmamoğlu's detention and subsequent arrest have turned into the largest demonstrations seen in Turkey in over a decade. Thousands gathered in front of the municipality building in Saraçhane for seven days at the call of the CHP. CHP Chairman Özgür Özel stated that the last gathering in Saraçhane was held on Tuesday evening.