Former Tunceli governor arrested on additional charges

Rastinews — Former Tunceli governor Tuncay Sonel and two police officers — one of them dismissed from the force — have been arrested again on four separate charges as part of the investigation into Gülistan Doku, a student who went missing in Dersim.

Gülistan Doku, a university student in Tunceli, has been missing since January 5, 2020.

Sonel, who has been jailed in connection with the case since April 21, along with bodyguard officer Şükrü Eroğlu and former police officer Gökhan Ertok, were arrested on four additional charges under an ex officio investigation.

The Erzurum Chief Public Prosecutor's Office opened the ex officio investigation after examining Sonel's digital devices.

Messages exchanged between Sonel and Ertok, the dismissed police officer who is also under arrest, were assessed under charges of "destroying, concealing or altering evidence of a crime, unlawfully obtaining personal data, unlawful deprivation of liberty, intentional injury, and robbery," as well as "destroying or altering data in an information system."

In connection with the case, suspects Emre E. and Sefa K. were detained on July 23 in simultaneous raids in Ankara.

Following the allegations, Sonel, Ertok and bodyguard officer Şükrü Eroğlu were taken from prison to Erzurum City Hospital for medical checks, then referred to the Erzurum courthouse. Prosecutors requested the arrest of all three.

The judge ordered Sonel, Eroğlu and Ertok arrested on charges of "aggravated robbery," "unlawful deprivation of liberty," unlawfully accessing and disrupting information systems, and "unlawfully obtaining personal data."

Among the other suspects detained in the operation and referred to the courthouse, Sefa K. was arrested, while Emre E. was released under judicial control.

The number of people jailed in the investigation led by the Erzurum and Tunceli chief public prosecutor's offices has now risen to 16.

Statement from the Erzurum Chief Public Prosecutor's Office

The Erzurum Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said in a statement:

"Technical examination of suspect Tuncay Sonel's digital materials uncovered incidental evidence — photographs, messages and concrete findings — pointing to an unlawful network involving the abuse of public authority and touching on various offenses under the Turkish Penal Code.

Based on the evidence obtained, simultaneous operations were carried out today in Ankara against a total of five suspects assessed to be linked to the case, three of whom are already jailed in the file. Two target suspects who were not in prison were apprehended and detained."

The Gülistan Doku investigation

Gülistan Doku, 21, a second-year Child Development student at Munzur University in Tunceli, was last heard from on January 5, 2020, after leaving her dormitory. Her family reported her missing to police the next day, January 6.

Doku's phone was last detected sending a signal near the Sarı Saltuk Viaduct at the Uzunçayır Dam Lake. Searches turned up no trace of her.

A review of City Security Management System (KGYS) cameras along the route showed Doku meeting her former boyfriend, Zeinal Abakarov, in the garden of a café near the governor's office around midday on January 5, and then boarding a minibus — but where she got off could not be determined.

Abakarov was detained and later released under judicial control with a travel ban.

A Munzur University camera with a clear view of the Sarı Saltuk Viaduct — the site of Doku's last known phone signal — was reported to be out of order. Footage from another camera overlooking the viaduct was blurred for 3.5 hours and could not be clarified.

Records show KGYS footage captured Doku entering Abakarov's home the night before she disappeared, but the following day the camera's angle had changed, leaving the building's entrance out of view.

The investigation was reopened after Akın Gürlek was appointed to the Justice Ministry, resulting in 15 arrests. Those named are:

• Former Tunceli governor Tuncay Sonel
• Sonel's son, Mustafa Türkay Sonel
• Former police officer Gökhan Ertok (accused of deleting data from Doku's SIM card)
• Çağdaş Özdemir, then chief physician of Tunceli State Hospital (accused of deleting hospital records)
• Erdoğan Elaldı, a former employee of the Tunceli Special Provincial Administration
• Celal Altaş
• Nurşen Arıkan
• Ferhat Hanedan Güven
• Zeinal Abakarov, Doku's former boyfriend
• Cemile Yücer, Abakarov's mother
• Engin Yücer, Abakarov's stepfather and a former police officer
• Şükrü Eroğlu, who served as Sonel's bodyguard officer at the time
• Fatih Özmen, a village guard
• Mehmet Aca, owner of an IT firm
• Handan Sonel, wife of former governor Tuncay Sonel

Umut Altaş, a fugitive suspect in the case sought under a red notice, was detained in the United States.