An Istanbul court has sentenced arrested opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu to 1 year and 8 months in prison on charges of insulting a local prosecutor. He was sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison, according to Habertürk TV channel reporting from the courtroom.

The verdict will be appealed, the channel said.

The court's decision, as noted by Habertürk, does not include a ban on political activity, which the prosecution had insisted on.

The court hearings in the Imamoglu case are being held in Istanbul's Silivri prison, where he has been held since his arrest in March on corruption charges.

The case against Imamoglu was opened in late January after he made harsh remarks against Istanbul prosecutor Akin Guler, which the prosecutor's office considered an insult to a public official.

Imamoglu, who was first elected mayor of Istanbul in 2019, was detained on March 19 on charges of corruption and links to terrorists and arrested on March 23. After the Istanbul mayor's arrest, a wave of protests organized by the opposition swept across Turkey. The CHP regularly holds rallies in support of Imamoglu in various parts of the country, as well as collecting signatures for early presidential elections and in support of Imamoglu as the opposition's presidential candidate.