Georgia’s Prosecutor’s Office has charged an Azerbaijani citizen in absentia over the murder of 21-year-old Fatima Karimova in Tbilisi and says he will be placed on the wanted list.
The agency says the investigation found that on June 25, at about 10 p.m., 30-year-old Emin Aliyev allegedly raped his cousin, Fatima Karimova, in Tbilisi’s Varketili district. Prosecutors allege the crime was committed “on the grounds of intolerance of gender equality.”
The Prosecutor’s Office also alleges that between June 3 and June 25, Aliyev restricted Karimova’s freedom by preventing her from making independent decisions, communicating with family members and other people, and leaving the apartment where they were staying.
“Fatima Karimova tried to leave their shared apartment rented by Emin Aliyev, but she did not have the opportunity to do so independently. Emin Aliyev made decisions on her leaving the house, communicating with other persons, and even on issues related to food, thus illegally trying to prove his superiority over Fatima Karimova as a man,” the Prosecutor’s Office said.
Prosecutors say Aliyev fled to Turkey after Karimova’s death. He has been charged under Article 109, Subsection “t” of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which concerns murder motivated by intolerance of equality between men and women. The charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment. The Prosecutor’s Office says Aliyev will be placed on the wanted list following the relevant court ruling.
The case drew public attention after Georgian women’s rights organization ‘Sapari’ spoke publicly about Karimova’s death.
‘Sapari’ has applied to the Prosecutor’s Office to represent the interests of Karimova’s sister in the case but has not yet received a response.
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