Vigils in memory of Chechen woman Aishat Baimuradova, who was killed in Yerevan, have been held in several European countries and beyond. The events were timed to mark two months since her death.
Several vigils took place on Tuesday in Vilnius, Paris, Madrid, Buenos Aires, and Helsinki, among other cities, outside Armenian and Russian embassies, according to the human rights group NC SOS Crisis Group. Those who attended brought photographs of Baimuradova, laying flowers and lighting candles in her memory.
Participants in the vigils said they considered it important to publicly remind people of the circumstances of Baimuradova’s death and to press for a transparent investigation into what had happened. Placards and speeches included calls for the protection of women’s rights and accountability for violence, as well as demands that the Armenian authorities see the investigation through to the end.
Baimuradova’s body has been in a Yerevan morgue since her death in mid-October. Earlier in December, the Armenian authorities sent a request for the body to be transferred for burial in Chechnya, but Baimuradova’s relatives have reportedly yet to respond.
At the same time, Armenia’s Investigative Committee and police are refusing to hand the body over to human rights defenders or to her acquaintances for the organisation of her funeral. According to human rights defenders, no victims have been identified in the criminal case other than the deceased herself, and for this reason, law enforcement agencies say they cannot release the body to any third party.
According to the NC SOS Crisis Group, Baimuradova’s husband and father are likely not planning to bury her. Her mother, from whom she was separated in childhood, is reportedly unable to receive her body.
The investigation into the killing has also stalled. In early November, Armenian police reported that CCTV footage had identified two people who left the flat where Baimuradova was killed. They were identified as Karina Iminova and Said-Khamzat Baisarov, both likely Chechen natives. Only in mid-November did Armenia’s Investigative Committee open a criminal case against two individuals connected to Baimuradova’s killing, although their names were not officially disclosed.
There is also no official information about how Baimuradova was killed. In the first days after her body was discovered, human rights defenders reported that she had been strangled. In early December, sources cited by the Russian independent media outlet Dozhd TV said that Baimuradova may have been poisoned. Armenia’s Investigative Committee has not commented on these reports.
Baimuradova’s disappearance became known on 15 October. She left home to visit a friend and then stopped responding to calls and messages. Friends began searching for her, and several days later, Baimuradova was found dead in a Yerevan flat.
Elizaveta Chukharova
This article was translated into Russian and republished by our partner SOVA.
