Turkish court rules to continue defendants' arrest in Narin Güran murder case
A Turkish court has ruled for the four defendants' continued arrest in the first hearing of 8-year-old Narin Güran's murder case. The court heard from the defendants and 35 witnesses in three days. Güran was found dead 19 days after going missing in September.
Duvar English
A Turkish court has announced its interim decision on the third day of 8-year-old Narin Güran’s murder trial and ruled for the continuation of the four defendants' arrest.
Güran went missing on Aug. 21 in the southeastern Diyarbakır province’s Bağlar district, and her body was found 19 days later in a nearby stream.
In the first two days of the trial, four defendants and 26 witnesses were heard. At the request of the Güran family’s lawyers, nine new witnesses and defense arguments were heard on Nov. 9.
The court granted a special extension for the third day of the hearing. Detained defendants and witnesses were brought to the courthouse under heavy security.
Electricians who were allegedly with uncle Salim Güran on the day Narin disappeared also testified. Hasan Özdel said he met Salim Güran in the field from 4:00 to 6:40 p.m. Another electrician, Abdulsamed Yeşildağlı, gave a similar account.
The court ruled to continue the detention of Narin Güran’s mother Yüksel Güran, her brother Enes Güran, her uncle Salim Güran, and Nevzat Bahtiyar, who confessed to hiding Narin’s body.
The next hearing was scheduled for Thursday, December 26.
Narin Güran's dead body was found on Sept. 8 near her village in a stream. She went missing on Aug. 21 after leaving a Quran course.
Uncle Salim Güran was previously arrested in line with the disappearance. The teams determined that the DNA samples from Uncle Güran's vehicle matched the DNA samples on Narin Güran's clothes.
After the 8-year-old girl's body was found, 24 people were detained, including the child's mother, father, two older brothers, four uncles, and the wife of the previously arrested uncle.
Villager Nevzat Bahtiyar later confessed that he carried the dead body of Narin to the stream inside a sack as per the instruction of uncle Salim Güran, who also served as the village head (“mukhtar”) in exchange for 200,000 liras ($5,873).
Narin's mother, uncle, brother, and Bahtiyar remain under custody as the murder trial is underway.