New development in the Gülistan Doku investigation: Witness testimony is chilling! 'She gave me 100,000 liras to dispose of the body'

A new arrest warrant has been issued in the investigation into the fate of university student Gülistan Doku, who has not been heard from in Tunceli since January 5, 2020. Handan Sonel, the wife of the then-Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel, was arrested on charges of "destroying, concealing, or altering evidence of a crime."

Following her processing by the gendarmerie and the prosecutor's office, Handan Sonel was referred to the Tunceli Criminal Court of Peace. The court issued the arrest warrant after evaluating witness accounts in the file, digital materials seized during searches of the residence, a weapon deemed to be unlicensed, vehicle and communication records, and expert reports.

WITNESS CLAIMS 100,000 LIRAS

One of the most serious allegations in the file came from the statement of convicted witness Turan Güler. According to the records, Güler alleged that Handan Sonel gave him 100,000 liras in exchange for taking and disposing of Gülistan Doku's body, and that he was also told that Mustafa Türkay Sonel had killed Doku by shooting her twice.

Handan Sonel denied this allegation. Stating that she did not know Turan Güler, Sonel said, "He does not know me, and I do not know him. I did not give him 100,000 liras." Sonel argued that there was no concrete evidence to support the witness's claim.

The investigation file also highlighted the account of Selvi Yeşil, who worked at the governor's residence. Yeşil alleged that on the day Gülistan Doku went missing, between 13:00 and 13:30, Handan Sonel came to the kitchen in a panic and told her, "Ms. Selvi, leave immediately. Leave it, get out quickly, go to your home."

The witness stated that such a situation had never happened before and that camera footage confirmed she left the residence at approximately 13:36. During the prosecutor's interrogation, Sonel was asked why she sent her employee away in a panic, with the reminder that Doku's phone signal was cut off at 13:22.

Handan Sonel argued that no such incident occurred. In her initial statement, she claimed the witness's testimony was "obtained under threat," but in the prosecutor's office, she clarified that she was not referring to law enforcement or judicial authorities, but rather that she thought the witness might have been threatened by other individuals.

BOXES AND DIGITAL MATERIALS REMOVED FROM THE ROOM

Selvi Yeşil's statement also included claims that Mustafa Türkay Sonel behaved unusually in the days following the disappearance. The witness said that for 3-4 days after January 5, Mustafa Türkay Sonel did not eat breakfast, did not leave his room, and did not go to school. Handan Sonel did not associate this situation with the Gülistan Doku incident.

Sonel explained her son's behavior by citing an argument he had with some students at school. During the prosecutor's interrogation, she was also reminded of her statement to the gendarmerie that "My son never failed to come home at night," after she mentioned that he sometimes stayed at the teachers' lodge. Sonel stated that she excluded the days he stayed at the teachers' lodge from that statement.

The statement of Gönül Gülmez, who worked at the governor's residence, focused on the boxes allegedly removed from Mustafa Türkay Sonel's room. Gülmez alleged that around the dates when news about Gülistan Doku's disappearance broke, Tuncay Sonel was angry at his son, and that the items in the room were packed into four boxes with the instruction, "Throw these away, let them go."

Handan Sonel denied this account as well, stating that there were no evidentiary materials in the boxes, but rather worms and insects that her son was raising as fish food. She argued that the event did not take place near January 5, but about a month before the university entrance exam.

One of the points emphasized in the prosecutor's arrest request was the digital materials seized during the searches. According to the Chief Public Prosecutor's office, 3 mobile phones, 3 tablets, 2 hard disks, a flash drive, an external memory, and a MacBook, which were not found in the search conducted as part of the previous investigation into Tuncay Sonel, were seized in the subsequent search.

The prosecutor's office assessed that these materials might have been brought into the residence after the first search. It was stated that the digital devices were taken under examination due to the possibility that they contained evidence related to the investigation. The court also took into account the fact that these materials were not found in the previous search in terms of the suspicion of evidence tampering or redirection.

WEAPON, VEHICLE EXAMINATION, AND PHONE LINE

A SIG Sauer brand pistol and three magazines were also seized during the search of Handan Sonel's home. During the prosecutor's interrogation, it was stated that the weapon was not among those registered to Tuncay Sonel and no license record was found. Handan Sonel said the pistol was unused, in its box, and that she did not even know it was a real weapon.

The file also questioned Handan Sonel's words, "The cars are coming up clean," during a conversation with her son, Mustafa Türkay Sonel, who is currently in prison. The prosecutor's office asked how she obtained this information while vehicle examinations were not yet complete and there was a confidentiality order on the file. Sonel argued that she saw this information on social media.

Communication traffic was also included in the scope of the investigation. It was determined that Handan Sonel stopped using the phone line registered to her husband, which she had been using for approximately 15-20 years, immediately after the operation and her husband's detention. Sonel said she stopped using her old line to avoid being asked "absurd questions."

The prosecutor's office also asked about the allegation that the spare SIM card obtained by Gülistan Doku's family was sent to former police officer Gökhan Ertok in Ankara on Tuncay Sonel's instructions without notifying judicial authorities. Handan Sonel said she had no knowledge of this transaction; however, she admitted that after the incident, she heard her husband talking to someone on the phone about a "SIM card."

Handan Sonel's statement also included an account of her overhearing two people working at the governor's residence talking shortly after Gülistan Doku went missing. Sonel stated that she heard a rumor about Doku having a pregnancy test done, that she had no information about the accuracy of this information, and that she disclosed this for the first time during her interrogation.

The Tunceli Criminal Court of Peace accepted the arrest request despite Handan Sonel's denial of the accusations. The decision stated that the accounts of Selvi Yeşil and Gönül Gülmez, the statement of Turan Güler, digital materials, and other information and documents in the file were evaluated together.

The court ruled that since the evidence was still in the collection stage and there was a possibility that the suspect might tamper with or redirect the evidence, judicial control measures would be insufficient. Handan Sonel was sent to prison on charges of "destroying, concealing, or altering evidence of a crime."