Reference to the Leyla Aydemir murder: 'Defendants in the Narin Güran case could be released with current testimonies'

Turkey has been shaken in recent weeks by the murder of Narin. As part of the murder investigation, many family members, including her mother, brother, and uncle, have been arrested. While scandalous evidence and allegations regarding the murder emerge every day, crime investigation expert Mesut Demirbilek, speaking to Alican Uludağ from Deutsche Welle, made noteworthy comments.

Pointing out that the investigation started late, Demirbilek stated that during the search efforts following Narin Güran's disappearance, the searches were conducted as a missing person case for the first 9-10 days, and the murder investigation began far too late.

HE DREW ATTENTION TO ERRORS MADE IN THE INVESTIGATION

Demirbilek stated that from the very first day of the Narin investigation, no DNA or evidence searches were conducted in or around Narin's home that could have led to findings related to the murder. Demirbilek specifically noted that no search was conducted in the barn, and that two cigarette butts were found in the barn exactly 32 days after the murder.

WIRETAPS WERE CONDUCTED 4 DAYS AFTER NARIN DISAPPEARED

Crime expert Demirbilek stated that the investigation did not proceed from the first day on the premise that the suspects could be family members, that wiretaps were only conducted 4 days after Narin disappeared, and that the phones of Narin's mother, father, brothers, and uncles were not confiscated in the early days of the investigation, which he described as a deficiency.

CAMERAS WERE NOT EXAMINED

Demirbilek said that during the search efforts for Narin, the cameras of the village and the military base overlooking the place where Narin was buried were not examined, but that if these images had been examined in time, Nevzat's movements while burying Narin could have been detected, and thus the disappearance of evidence in the murder could have been prevented.

“THESE INDIVIDUALS COULD BE RELEASED”

Crime expert Demirbilek noted that 12 people have been arrested as part of the investigation and that the uncle, mother, Nevzat B., and the brother, who are alleged to be accomplices in the murder, deleted their correspondence, while emphasizing that according to the prosecutor's indictment, Narin's killers could be released in the future:

"It is not legally easy to prove complicity in a crime with a single statement. It may not have much validity. My fear is this: If the investigation remains only at the level of current testimonies and no concrete evidence supporting them is presented, these defendants could be released within a few years. For this reason, I see the prosecutor's job as difficult. If an indictment is prepared based on testimonies, the probability of these individuals being released in the future will be very high," he assessed. Demirbilek recalled the example of Leyla, who was a victim of murder in Ağrı, noting that in that case, the suspects were released and acquitted after a few years.

WHAT IS THE LEYLA MURDER?

Leyla Aydemir was the 6th of 7 children of the couple Şükran and Nihat Aydemir, who lived in the city center of Ağrı. In 2018, they went as a family to the village of Bezirhane, where her grandfather lived, to celebrate the Ramadan Feast. However, on June 15, little Leyla suddenly disappeared. Large-scale search efforts were launched across Turkey, and millions of people waited with hope for Leyla to be found. Unfortunately, 18 days later, Leyla's lifeless body was found in the Kurudere area, approximately 3 kilometers away from the village.

DEFENDANTS HAD BEEN RELEASED

An important ruling was made in the decision hearing held on October 2, 2020, at the Ağrı 1st High Criminal Court regarding the murder of Leyla Aydemir. The court sentenced the detained defendant, uncle Yusuf Aydemir, to aggravated life imprisonment. However, an acquittal decision was made for the 6 defendants who were being tried without arrest.

News Source: 12punto