Court arrests man for sending death threat to Istanbul Mayor İmamoğlu

An Istanbul court on April 9 ruled to arrest a man on charges of sending a death threat through e-mail to Istanbul Mayor İmamoğlu. The suspect is reported to have threatened the opposition CHP mayor with "spilling his blood."

Duvar English

An Istanbul court on April 9 ordered the arrest of a man on charges of sending a death threat through e-mail to Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

The man, only known by initials T.G., was detained at his house in the capital Ankara on April 8. As the investigation is being conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the man was brought to Istanbul.

According to Turkish media outlets, İmamoğlu received an e-mail on March 27 from the suspect, telling him: “Look, the pathetic man named İmamoğlu Ekrem, I would spill your blood and make you drink it...Either you will learn to know your place or I will break your neck and scalp you and use it as a mop.”

On March 28, İmamoğlu, of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), filed a criminal complaint against the person who wrote the e-mail. Following claims that no action was taken regarding the death threat, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on April 8 issued a statement, saying they had ordered the police to catch the suspect in question on March 30.

“The criminal complaint was put in [judiciary] process on the day it was made, on March 28, and an order was sent to the police on March 30 for the suspect T.G. to be caught,” the prosecutor's office said, adding that that works to catch the suspect in question were ongoing.