A man charged in absentia with the murder of his relative, an Azerbaijani woman, in Tbilisi, in what women’s rights advocates have described as a possible “honor crime”, has been detained in Batumi International Airport, the Georgian Interior Ministry announced on July 11, following reports about his arrest in Turkey.
While the ministry did not specify whether formal extradition procedures had been carried out, it said the arrest was made “in close coordination with Turkish and Azerbaijani colleagues, as well as through the involvement of the Georgian police attaché in Turkey.” The ministry also did not identify the detainee, but it later confirmed to Civil.ge he was Emin Aliyev, an Azerbaijani man charged in absentia in Tbilisi days earlier.
The prosecutors announced charging Aliyev in absentia with the murder of his relative Fatima Karimova under aggravating circumstances on July 7, noting that Aliyev killed the woman in the evening of June 25 on motives “of intolerance of the equality of women and men,” a phrasing introduced in Georgian legislation to denote gender-based crimes after Georgia’s disputed parliament removed the term “gender” from a series of laws last year.
According to the investigation, the murder took place in a Tbilisi apartment where she had been held for weeks and restricted from contact with the outside world and her family members. Aliyev faces a sentence of up to 20 years’ imprisonment or life imprisonment if convicted.
The case first drew public attention on July 1, when Baia Pataraia, who heads Georgian women’s rights organization Sapari, raised alarms about “horrific femicide” and possible “honor crime” of Karimova. Citing a Russian influencer, Pataraia reported that Karimova, a young “orphan,” was found dead in a Tbilisi apartment after being placed under the care of a male relative, following her arrival from Azerbaijan with a boyfriend who eventually abandoned her after allegedly physically abusing her.
Pataraia added that the alleged perpetrator had fled to Turkey and had been declared wanted. It was later reported in Azerbaijani media sources that the suspect had been arrested in Turkey.
Reacting to the report of Aliyev’s arrest in Batumi, Pataraia wrote on July 11 that “it is important now to identify every perpetrator,” noting that, according to the information she possesses, and given the nature of the crime, “he could not have acted alone.”
“Now we will see whether the Georgian investigative authorities are capable of investigating a transnational and organized ‘honor killing’,” she noted.
Also Read:
