GÜLEÇ JUDGMENT OF 27 JULY 1998 19 The autopsy, which was a full one, had been performed in İdil paramedical health centre and produced the following findings: the victim had been dead for about one hour as rigor mortis had not yet set in. The victim had been hit by a single bullet. The point of impact was below the right armpit and the bullet had lodged in the left shoulder, causing internal bleeding. The bullet had been found in the victim’s body. It had followed a rising trajectory. Mr Aldemir considered that it was not impossible, in view of the trajectory followed by the bullet-core found in the victim’s body, that it had been fired from the Condor armoured vehicle and had then ricocheted. He referred to the autopsy report, which he had in front of him, and which stated that the fatal bullet must have ricocheted off a building or wall. The bullet-core found in the victim’s body had been knocked out of shape, and this could not be accounted for by the bullet’s passage through the victim’s body. A ballistic report on the spent cartridges had been drawn up by the regional criminal police laboratory. According to that report, a bullet fragment which had passed through the body had been found and compared to twelve specimen bullets. No match had been found. Since the other fragments of the bullet had not been found, it had been impossible to identify the weapon which had caused the victim’s death. However, the bullet-core, which was an important piece of evidence, had been preserved as an exhibit, in accordance with the relevant procedure. Mr Aldemir had seen to it that the wounded were examined by doctors. Ten medical reports had been filed and placed on the case file sent to the District Commissioner. According to those reports, certain demonstrators had wounds between the feet and the knees. None of them had been wounded on the upper body. The position of these wounds might have been due to crossfire and bullets ricocheting off the ground or buildings. Since the criminal complaint concerned civil servants, Mr Aldemir had made a declaration on 19 April 1991 to the effect that he had no jurisdiction to deal with it, in accordance with the legislation on prosecution of civil servants. He had then transferred the investigation file to the District Commissioner. (j) Osman Kurt (head of general security at Şırnak gendarmerie headquarters at the material time) 39. When appointed as the investigator in the Güleç case, he had opened an inquiry and compiled a case file. He had taken witness statements from Abdurrahman Abay, Hüseyin Demir and the other civil servants working in the town hall, who had taken part in the demonstration.