Male violence: Court accepts indictment against actor Ozan Güven

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The İstanbul 58th Penal Court of First Instance has accepted indictment of İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against actor Ozan Güven.

Having launched an investigation against the actor upon the criminal complaint of Deniz Bulutsuz, his ex-partner, the chief public prosecutor's office demanded that Ozan Güven stand trial on charges of "threat", "insult", "deprivation of liberty" and "wilful injury" and face 3 years, 8 months to 13 years, 6 months in prison on the offenses charged.

With the indictment accepted by the penal court of first instance, Ozan Güven will have his first hearing on January 21, 2021.

On the other side, the criminal complaint of "minor injury" filed by Ozan Güven against Deniz Bulutsuz was previously referred to the Conciliation Board by the prosecutor's office. Accepting the indictment, the court has also ruled that the result of this investigation file shall be awaited.

What happened?

Deniz Bulutsuz previously announced that actor Ozan Güven inflicted violence on her. Having received a medical report documenting the battery, Bulutsuz appealed to the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office via her attorney and filed a criminal complaint against Güven.

The petition submitted to the prosecutor's office by attorney Mustafa Kurtuluş indicated that after Güven and Bulutsuz had dinner in a restaurant on June 12, they went to a friend's house and Güven got disturbed when the ex-boyfriend of Bulutsuz was talked about there. When they left this house and went to his place, Güven battered Deniz Bulutsuz in his house.

The petition also noted that Güven broke the objects around and injured her in the chin while he was trying to fetch the broken lampshade from her and prevented her from leaving when she attempted to do so.

'We unconditionally stand with Deniz Bulutsuz'

In a statement released by the Professional Society of Script and Dialogue Writers (SenaristBir) on July 5, 103 people from the cinema industry expressed their solidarity with Deniz Bulutsuz, who filed a criminal complaint against her ex-partner and actor Ozan Güven on charges of "attempted wilful murder", "deprivation of liberty" and "insult."

In its statement, the SenaristBir briefly said:

"Most of the time, the women who have been subjected to incidents of violence and harassment feel forced to stay silent due to social pressures. Because they know the - sometimes very cruel - prejudices of the society about this issue, starting from the ones closest to them.

"We can only hear the voices of those who have managed to break the circle of silence after going through very difficult phases. The principle of 'woman's statement is to be given primacy' basically means raising one's voice for the ones who cannot raise their voices.

"We unconditionally stand with Deniz Bulutsuz, who declared that she was subjected to violence by Ozan Güven and appealed to court with a medical report documenting the battery." (EMK/SD)