A man charged in absentia with the murder of his relative, Azerbaijani woman Fatima Karimova, in Tbilisi has been detained at Batumi International Airport, the Georgian Interior Ministry said on July 11.
The ministry said the arrest followed close coordination with Turkish and Azerbaijani counterparts and involved Georgia’s police attaché in Turkey. It did not say whether formal extradition procedures had been completed. Officials later confirmed that the detainee was Emin Aliyev, an Azerbaijani national charged in Tbilisi days earlier.
Charges and alleged motive
Prosecutors charged Aliyev in absentia on July 7 with murder under aggravating circumstances, saying he strangled Karimova on the evening of June 25 on motives tied to “intolerance of the equality of women and men” — wording used in Georgian law for gender-based crimes after parliament removed the term “gender” from a series of statutes last year.
Investigators say the killing took place in a Tbilisi apartment where Karimova had been held for weeks and restricted from contact with the outside world and her family. If convicted, Aliyev faces up to 20 years or life imprisonment.
How the case came to light
The case drew wider attention on July 1, when Baia Pataraia, head of the women’s rights group Sapari, raised concerns about a possible femicide and what advocates have described as a possible “honor crime.” Citing earlier reports, she said Karimova, described as 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.
Pataraia said the alleged perpetrator had fled to Turkey and been declared wanted. Azerbaijani media later reported an arrest in Turkey. After news of the Batumi detention, she wrote that investigators should identify every person involved, saying she believed Aliyev could not have acted alone and that the case would test whether Georgian authorities can investigate a transnational killing of this kind.
