Striking statement regarding the Narin Güran murder: 'The case against all arrested suspects except him will completely collapse'

The investigation into the murder of Narin Güran, who was reported missing in the Tavşantepe neighborhood of Diyarbakır’s Bağlar district and whose lifeless body was found in the Eğertutmaz Stream 19 days later, is ongoing.

The Council of Forensic Medicine has determined that 8-year-old Narin was strangled to death on August 21, the day she went missing. 

The report included the finding that "Narin Güran died on August 21, the day she went missing, and her death occurred due to oxygen deprivation resulting from the closing of her mouth and nose and pressure on her neck."

The brutal murder, for which 12 people are currently in custody, has not yet been solved.

Onur Akdağ, the lawyer for uncle Salim Güran, who was arrested as part of the investigation, filed an objection to his client's detention yesterday (September 19).

"THE CASE AGAINST ALL SUSPECTS EXCEPT NEVZAT WILL COMPLETELY COLLAPSE"

Speaking to Milliyet, lawyer Akdağ stated that "the main perpetrator is Nevzat Bahtiyar, who confessed to burying the body." Akdağ said, "The case against all arrested suspects except Nevzat will completely collapse during the prosecution phase."

Addressing claims from the Istanbul Forensic Medicine preliminary autopsy report that Narin was strangled and that fluid from her mouth transferred to uncle Salim Güran's hand and subsequently to the vehicle's steering wheel and seat, Akdağ claimed that no such report exists to support this allegation.

In the objection petition he submitted to the Diyarbakır 4th Criminal Court of Peace, Akdağ summarized his arguments and claims as follows:

“My client did not witness the brutal murder, which is estimated to have taken place between 15:15 and 15:46 on the day of the incident. Therefore, he does not know who committed the act. However, my client, having heard Nevzat's confessions, stated in our private meetings that he believes Nevzat is capable of committing this murder. In his first statement to law enforcement, suspect Bahtiyar claimed that Narin's uncle, Salim Güran, offered him 200,000 lira to dispose of the body and said he would pay after the corn harvest. However, he changed this statement at the prosecutor's office, claiming he was forced to take Narin's lifeless body because he was threatened with death by Salim Güran.

While he told law enforcement that he put Narin's body into a sack with her uncle, we believe he planned and designed his later statements to the prosecutor's office and the court—saying ‘I placed the body in the sack alone in my own house’—out of fear that a future Forensic Medicine report might show Salim's fingerprints were not on the sack. Nevzat, who told law enforcement he did not know whose body it was, claimed in court that the uncle said, ‘I killed Arif’s daughter.’

With these contradictory statements made to law enforcement, in his initial and supplementary statements to the prosecutor, and during his interrogation, Nevzat is currently the primary suspect in the murder. We view Nevzat's attempt to target my client as an effort to shift all the blame onto my client, Salim Güran. Furthermore, Nevzat's hostility toward Arif Güran is a topic of conversation in the village. To this end, Nevzat gave small amounts of pocket money to the victim several times to gain her trust. In fact, Narin told her mother that Nevzat had given her pocket money the day before the murder.

The prosecution's preliminary assessment that Nevzat and my client were at the same location between 15:21 and 15:46, based on HTS analysis and adjacent base station records, is erroneous. We will also have expert witnesses heard before the court.”

News Source: 12punto