Background
Hürmüz and Şimoni Diril were a Chaldean Christian couple living in the village of Kovankaya (known in Syriac as Mehr) in the Beytüşşebap district of Şırnak. Reported to have been aged 71 and 65, they were among the few families who returned to the village after many Chaldean families had left the region. The village had emptied during the conflict of the 1990s, and some former residents came back years later. The couple's decision to stay was seen as a symbol of hope for the return of the region's small Christian community.
What happened
The couple disappeared from their village in the first days of January 2020; sources give the date as 8 or 11 January. After searches by relatives and villagers, Şimoni Diril's body was found on 20 March 2020 on the bank of the Hezil stream near the village. Hürmüz Diril has not been heard from since.
The case drew great attention at both local and national level. Representatives of Syriac, Chaldean and other Christian communities called for what happened to be clarified and for the security of small communities in the region to be guaranteed.
Investigation and trial
Three people were put on trial. On 21 July 2023, the Şırnak 1st High Criminal Court sentenced one defendant to life imprisonment and acquitted the other two. News reports describe the charge as killing with monstrous intent or by torture, and premeditated killing. The acquittals were upheld on appeal. The family and their lawyers argued that an act involving more than one person could not be explained by a single defendant, took the acquittals to the Constitutional Court and said the investigation had been inadequate.
A separate case concerning Hürmüz Diril's fate was also opened. The indictment said that because no sign of life had been received from him for a long time, there was sufficient suspicion that he had been killed in the same incident as his wife. According to press reports, in that case too one defendant was sentenced and two were acquitted; but because Hürmüz Diril's body has not been found, the incident is not regarded as fully clarified.
Where it stands today
The case revived concerns about the security of the Christian minority in the region. The family calls for all those responsible to be identified and for Hürmüz Diril to be found. Kovankaya remains a symbolic place for the presence of Syriac-Chaldean communities in the region and for their efforts to return.
Representatives of the local Christian community and human rights groups ask for the proceedings to be examined in every respect, in particular whether others had a part in the incident. For the family, the most basic issue is learning where Hürmüz Diril is.