As we have already reported, on August 20 of this year, a 28-year-old trans woman named Adriana was brutally murdered in her own apartment in Yerevan. In order to hide his tracks, the criminal also burned the apartment of the trans woman. The friends of the murdered trans woman called Lilit Martirosyan, the founder and president of Right Side NGO at around 4:30 p.m. on the same day, and informed her about the murder.

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. The day after the murder, on August 21, at 02:40 a.m., the 26-year-old suspect from the Armavir region was found at the Bavra border checkpoint, arrested, and transferred to the Central Department of the Internal Affairs Police. He was presented to the body conducting the proceedings and questioned about the circumstances of the incident, during which he admitted that he committed the murder, after which 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 investigation body, the 26-year-old man has been arrested. Administrative and evidentiary operations continue to be carried out with his participation.

According to the request of the family members of the murdered trans woman, the legal teams of Right Side Human Rights Defender NGO  and Pink Human Rights Defender NGO have been involved in this case and will provide legal representation at all stages of the case.

We will continue to follow the course of not only this, but also other criminal cases involving Trans and LGBIQ persons, consistently documenting and collecting cases of discrimination, and we urge the RA Police to conduct a proper investigation and punish the guilty to the full extent of the law.

September 19, 2023 Armenia, Yerevan