Right Side Human Rights Defender NGO reports with deep pain and grief that 28-year-old trans woman Adriana was brutally murdered in her own apartment in Yerevan. The incident took place on August 20 of this year, after the murder, the apartment was burned.
The friends of the murdered trans woman called Lilit Martirosyan, the founder and president of Right Side NGO, yesterday at around 4:30 p.m. and reported the murder. According to them, Adriana said a week ago that she was being followed and threatened.
Then, one of the news outlets affiliated with the police wrote that at 4:55 p.m., an alarm was received that smoke was visible from the window of one of the apartments on the 11th floor of the 1st building on Yeznik Koghbatsi street. Firemen broke the door and extinguished the fire. The body of a 28-year-old citizen was found in the apartment. “According to the coroner’s conclusion, there were 4 marks of a sharp cutting-piercing object on the body, and it was not excluded that the forensic medical examination of the body appointed by the investigator would reveal that there were more stab wounds.” “After killing her, the apartment and the body were burned.” A criminal proceeding was initiated in connection with the case, according to the features of Article 155, Part 1 and Article 264, Part 2, Clauses 2 and 6 of the RA Criminal Code.
Today, on August 21, at 02:40, the 26-year-old suspect from Armavir region was found at the Bavra border checkpoint, arrested, and transferred to the Central Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He was presented to the body conducting the proceedings and questioned about the circumstances of the incident, during which he admitted that he had committed the murder, after which he had set the apartment on fire and tried to cross the RA state border through the Bavra border checkpoint.
According to the decision of the preliminary investigating body, the young man was arrested. Administrative and evidentiary operations continue to be carried out with his participation. The investigation is ongoing. Measures are being taken to find all the circumstances of the case, the instrument of the crime.
Right Side Human Rights Defender NGO calls on the RA police to conduct an impartial investigation, punish the culprit with all the rigor of the law, and take steps to eliminate the atmosphere of widespread impunity.
We urge media representatives to avoid spreading misinformation, using wrong and misleading terminology, and to stop promoting hatred towards transgender people. The unabated level of hatred is further exacerbated when various radical groups and other sectors of society make hateful calls and threats against transgender people and remain unpunished.
The cases of violence and hate speech that have been reported for months do not receive an adequate response from the police, which leads to more serious crimes, in this case, murder.
We remind you that a similar incident happened a few years ago, they tried to burn a trans woman in her apartment. Fortunately, the woman did not die, she managed to crawl out of the apartment. Another example is the case of Vahe Yeghiazaryan, who attacked and beat a trans woman and broadcasted it live on July 30, 2022, and now he is free.
Right Side Human Rights Defender NGO shares the pain and sorrow of the friends and relatives of the brutally murdered trans woman and the entire LGBTIQ community of Armenia at this tragic moment. In memory of Adriana, who became another victim of transphobia, stabbed and burned in her apartment, today, at 8:00 p.m., Right Side NGO is holding a candlelight vigil. Those who want to join can write to our Instagram or Facebook pages to find out about the location of the candlelight vigil.
Supporters of the LGBTIQ community, civil society organizations, human rights defenders, and public and political figures, today the transgender community of Armenia needs your active support. Please stand up and raise your voice against targeted violence and injustice against Trans and LGBTQ people.
Aug 21, 2023 Armenia, Yerevan
