Uncle Salim Güran's worker R.A. obstructed search efforts

The investigation conducted by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the murder of Narin Güran, who went missing on August 21 in the Tavşantepe neighborhood of the central Bağlar district and whose lifeless body was found in the Eğertutmaz Stream on September 8, is ongoing.

Within the scope of the investigation, R.A., who was referred to the duty peace criminal judgeship with a request for arrest and was re-detained upon the prosecutor's office's request after being released under judicial control, was arrested by the duty peace criminal judgeship.

15-year-old R.A., a child dragged into crime who was learned to be a worker for Narin Güran's imprisoned uncle Salim Güran, stated in his testimony to the prosecutor's office that he woke up around 05:00-06:00 on the day of the incident, that he slept at the drilling site that day, that they changed the water for the lower field and then the upper field, and that Salim Güran came to the upper field.

Claiming that they had breakfast at the drilling site, that Salim Güran stayed with them for 1.5-2 hours, and that he did not remember what time Güran left them, R.A. continued as follows:

"My father went to pick up the workers working in the other fields around 13:00. Then, around 14:00-15:00, the mukhtar (Salim Güran) came to me again and asked where my father was. I said, 'He went to pick up the workers.' He called my father next to me and asked, 'Where are you?' I don't remember what time he called. My father said, 'I was distributing the workers.' After this conversation, the mukhtar sat with me. A few minutes later, the mukhtar called my father again and asked, 'Where are you?' again. My father said, 'I am eating in the village.' Meanwhile, we were drinking tea with the mukhtar. Around 16:00-16:30, my father arrived and started drinking tea with us. My father went to the lower field around 16:00-16:30. I stayed in the upper field with the mukhtar. I was washing the dishes. After the mukhtar sat here for 5-10 minutes, he said to me, 'I will go home, change my clothes, and come back.'

After the mukhtar left me, I went to change the water. The mukhtar had left me during a time frame I don't remember. Within 5-10 minutes, by the time I changed the water, the mukhtar had returned to the drilling site. After a while, my father also came back after changing the water in the lower field. We prepared dinner and ate. The mukhtar never left us; we all sat together. The mukhtar only left for 5-10 minutes to change his clothes. While the mukhtar was sitting with us after dinner, his phone rang. During the phone call, the mukhtar was informed that Narin Güran had gone missing. That is how we learned that Narin had gone missing. Except for changing his clothes, Salim Güran did not leave me after 14:00. We did not leave the field either."

When asked at the prosecutor's office, "What is your statement regarding the contradiction between your testimony and that of Salim Güran?" after being reminded of the imprisoned uncle Salim Güran's statement regarding the afternoon of the incident: "We came to the canal area with R.A. We went to the farm belonging to my father-in-law; waste is flowing into the canal at this farm, so the sprinklers are getting clogged. M. was also there. They brought us a pickaxe and shovel at the farm. I don't remember the time. We dug with M. His wife brought us tea. We stayed here for quite a while. We opened a line with the pickaxe and shovel. After drinking our tea, we returned to the field with R.A.," R.A. said, "I have nothing to say regarding this contradiction."

When asked about the content of his conversations with Salim Güran on August 21 at 08:33, 15:52, 18:37, 18:51, 18:52, and 18:54, R.A. claimed that he did not remember any of the conversations.

When reminded that the imprisoned uncle's wife said in her statement, "We came home with Salim at 14:30, we ate together at home, Salim rested at home for a while, and left the house after a while," and that Salim Güran explained, "After home, I went to H.G.'s house, then I went to the field where the drilling is," R.A. used the expression, "I have nothing to say to these contradictions."

IMAGE ANALYSIS OF CELL PHONES

At the prosecutor's office, R.A. was also asked, "In the image analysis conducted on the cell phones, in a conversation between you and Salim, Salim says, 'Something of yours fell in that corner, something belonging to you on that slope, the corner of the slope is stone,' and you reply, 'eeee,' and Salim replies, 'One is on the ground,' and you reply again, 'okay, not with me yet/okay, it hasn't died yet.' What do you have to say about this conversation?" R.A. replied to the question, "Well, I don't remember such a thing."

When reminded that Salim Güran stated he spoke with M.Ş.G. about the worm infestation in the cotton field and went to the field, and asked about the contradiction that arose from his own claim that they did not leave the field, R.A. said, "The cotton infestation incident I remember did not happen on the day of the incident."

In response to the question regarding Salim Güran's statement that "R.A. took his sisters from the field to their village," R.A. stated, "My sisters had come to the field 1 or 2 days before August 21, 2024. Salim had taken them to the village with his car, but my sisters did not come to the field on the day of the incident."

In his interrogation at the prosecutor's office, R.A. stated that he did not know Nevzat Bahtiyar, who is imprisoned within the scope of the investigation, and that he only knew the mukhtar in that village.

When asked about Nevzat Bahtiyar's statements, R.A. said, "I have nothing to say on this matter. I have no information about the subject."

When asked, "In light of all these contradictions, why are you trying to protect the person named Salim Güran?" R.A. stated, "I am not protecting Salim; Salim did not leave me after 14:00 except to go change his clothes. My statement consists of this. I do not accept the accusation against me; I am innocent."

DETAILS REGARDING SEARCH EFFORTS

R.A. repeated his statements from the prosecutor's office in his testimony at the duty peace criminal judgeship to which he was referred.

When reminded that Salim Güran's statements regarding the hours he was in the field on the day of the incident did not fully match any evidence in the file, R.A. said, "Salim Güran was with me in the field at the times I stated. As far as I remember, he was with us for 1-1.5 hours starting from 08:00 in the morning, then he left us. He came between 14:00-14:30, and after that, he stayed with us until we received the news that Narin had gone missing. During this time, he left us once to change his clothes."

When reminded of the statements of one of the detainees, Birsen Güran, dated September 12, 2024, R.A. said, "No one pressured me on how to give my statements. No one is threatening me; there is no situation where I would be afraid of Salim Güran."

The judgeship included the following statements in the justification for R.A.'s arrest:

"Regarding the fact that the child dragged into crime R.A. committed the crime of 'Intentional Killing of a Child' attributed to him, it was determined that the search and rescue efforts carried out to find the victim Narin Güran, who went missing on August 21, 2024, were attempted to be obstructed by some individuals with artificial reports and distracting actions aimed at misdirecting the target. Accordingly, according to the JASAT report in the file, it was claimed that 'a slipper was found in a location close to the tent where Syrians were staying,' and an attempt was made to direct gendarmerie personnel to this part, a fire was started in the village, unusual power outages occurred during the search and rescue efforts, a report was made that two individuals took a girl to the upper side of the village, and security units were misdirected with false statements. It was determined that an attempt was made to distance gendarmerie personnel from the Eğertutmaz Stream with such actions, that some of these actions were carried out by some members of the Güran family, that the Diyarbakır 4th Peace Criminal Judgeship decided to arrest some suspects with its decision dated September 13, 2024, that R.A.'s statements regarding the hours suspect Salim Güran was in the field contradicted the HTS records in the file, the statements of other suspects, and even the statements of suspect Salim Güran himself, that the investigation has not yet been completed, that the possibility of pressure being exerted on the parties exists concretely in terms of the current file, and when all other documents in the file are evaluated together, the valid suspicion reasons stipulated in Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the strong suspicion indicated in Article 19 of the 1982 Constitution, and the concrete evidence indicating strong criminal suspicion stipulated in Article 100/1 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CMK) are present. Given the lower and upper limits of the penalty stipulated in the law for the attributed crime, the fact that the attributed crime consists of catalog crimes specified in Article 100/3 of the CMK, the fact that the evidence has not been fully collected, the conviction that it is highly probable that R.A. will flee according to the expected penalty, and that the arrest measure is proportionate, and since it is understood that judicial control application will be insufficient at this stage, it has been decided that R.A. be arrested in accordance with Article 100 and subsequent articles of the CMK."