Turkish authorities have filed a lawsuit against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a potential rival of President Tayyip Erdoğan, accusing him of rigging public tenders when he was head of the city's Beylikdüzü district, Haberturk television reported.

The charge carries a possible prison sentence of up to seven years. A hearing is scheduled for June 15.

The case was initiated after an investigation into a tender for recruitment services, which was held in 2015.

Last December, Imamoglu was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison and banned from politics for insulting civil servants in 2019, when he criticized the decision to cancel the first round of municipal elections in which he defeated the ruling AKP candidate.

Critics say Turkey's judicial system has become subservient to Erdoğan's desire to punish critics.