Halit Ergenç, the actor who played onur in the novel “The thousand and one nights”, was sentenced to prison in Türkiye

Halit Ergençthe remembered actor who gave life to Onur in the successful Turkish novel Arabian Nightshe was sentenced by the justice of his country to a year and ten months in prison for false testimony.

The decision was taken after a cause that has been in progress for more than a decade, related to its participation in the protests of the Gezi Park in 2013.

Everything dates back to June 2013, when thousands of Turkish citizens demonstrated in Istanbul against the felling of trees in Taksim Gezi Park.

In those marches artists and celebrities joined, including Halit Ergenç. According to justice, the actor declared during the first investigations that He had attended “for his own will”.

However, the authorities claimed to have evidence that would demonstrate otherwise, which resulted in the accusation of false testimony.

The ID Letiim communication agency, which represented several of the artists present in the marches, was indicated as promoter of the participation of their figures in the protests.

Its director, Aye Barm, received a 30 -year prison sentence, and some media in Türkiye speak of a possible political persecution promoted by sectors related to the president Recep Tayyip Erdoan.

Halit Ergenç defense

During the trial, Halit Ergenç denied having lied and defended his testimony: “I did not lie. I request my acquittal because the legal elements of the crime were not known”.

Despite the conviction, the ruling is not yet firm and the actor will not go to prison if he does not incur another crime during the period of the sentence.

This Tuesday, the actor was smiling in the delivery of the Bedia Muvahit theater awards, but avoided referring to the subject. Although it faces a complex situation, Halit Ergenç seems to stay serene before the conviction that puts it again in the center of the public scene, this time, far from the reflectors of fiction.