New development in the Narin Güran case: Appeal filed with the Court of Cassation

The body of 8-year-old Narin Güran, who went missing on August 21, 2024, in the Bağlar district of Diyarbakır, was found in a sack in a stream bed on September 8. A lawsuit was filed regarding the incident against her mother Yüksel Güran, her uncle Salim Güran, her brother Enes Güran, and their neighbor Nevzat Bahtiyar. The court sentenced Salim, Yüksel, and Enes Güran to aggravated life imprisonment, while Nevzat Bahtiyar was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison for concealing evidence of the crime.

Enes Güran's lawyer, Mahir Akbilek, argued in the petition submitted to the Court of Cassation that the narrowed base station signal reports were unreliable. Citing the acquittal of three people arrested for murder in the Bismil district based on a similar report, Akbilek stated that the competence of the expert witnesses should be questioned.

In the Bismil case, three individuals arrested due to narrowed base station signal reports regarding the 2013 murder of Arif Meçin were acquitted on the grounds that the evidence was insufficient and that such reports did not constitute definitive proof. This situation formed a significant basis for the appeal filed by Enes Güran's lawyer to the Court of Cassation.

In his petition, Akbilek emphasized that narrowed base station signal reports do not align with scientific and technological realities and that such reports should not be accepted as definitive evidence in criminal proceedings. Furthermore, he pointed to the rule that such reports must yield the same result in every test, claiming that the current reports are unlawful.

The Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, however, stated that the sentences given to the defendants were in accordance with the law and requested that the verdict be upheld. The file has been sent to the 1st Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, and a final decision is pending.