Avaz Hafizli remembered in Shamakhi and Tbilisi

On February 22, 2026, members of the queer community and representatives of civil society visited the grave of Avaz Hafizli, an LGBTQI+ activist and journalist who was murdered in 2022, in the village of Shikhazirli in Shamakhi. On the same days, posters dedicated to his memory were put up on the streets of Tbilisi.

Avaz Hafizli was killed on February 22, 2022, by his cousin, 24-year-old Amrulla Gulaliyev. Local LGBTQI+ activists described the murder as a homophobic act of violence carried out in the name of so-called “family honour.”

Avaz Hafizli’s family did not permit a headstone to be placed on his grave. Although community members sought to raise funds to prepare a headstone two years ago, they were not allowed to do so. This reflects attempts to keep a queer identity invisible even after death. The absence of a headstone and the wish to keep the grave unmarked are perceived as a denial and erasure of queer identity within the family structure.

The investigation and trial of the case also raised concerns within the LGBTQI+ community. Amrulla Gulaliyev was sentenced to nine years and six months in prison by the Baku Court of Grave Crimes. He was charged under Article 120.1 of the Criminal Code (intentional murder). LGBTQI+ activists stated that the brutal circumstances of the killing and the additional violence inflicted on the body were not taken into account, and that the bias motive was not recognized as an aggravating circumstance. The exclusion of civil society representatives from the hearings, the restriction on the number of attendees, and the role of family members as the legal representatives of the victim highlighted the limited avenues of legal protection available to the queer community.

The murder followed speeches circulated on social media in 2021 that included calls for the physical “removal” of LGBTQI+s, particularly the trans community. After a video was shared by Sevinj Huseynova on July 7, 2021, trans women filed a complaint with the police, but no legal action was taken. Subsequent attacks against LGBTQI+s were recorded in Khirdalan and other areas, including the discovery of the burned body of a trans woman, Nuray. Avaz Hafizli was among the organizers of protests against these attacks and against hate speech; he chained himself in front of the Prosecutor General’s Office and held a one-person protest. However, his official appeals did not result in any action.

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