Rüzgar's murderer demands psychiatric examination

On March 4, the trial of the murder of 19-year-old queer youthRüzgar (Yasin Ibadov) continued at the Baku Court of Grave Crimes, chaired by Judge Elman Rustamov. During the trial, the defendant's lawyer, the defense attorney of Rüzgar's uncle, Babek Ibadov, who is accused of killing Rüzgar, filed a motion for him to undergo a psychiatric examination. The court rejected this motion.

The defense's demand for a psychiatric examination is reminiscent of a scheme known in the legal practice of many queerphobic countries around the world: personal responsibility for the crime is pushed to the background under the pretext of mental health, and the defendant is sent to a psychiatric institution instead of prison.

Rüzgar's murder is not an ordinary criminal case. Thus, Rüzgar's queer identity directly determines the context of this crime. In such cases, the defense's use of the "psychological state" argument runs the risk of indirectly presenting the killer's actions as "understandable" or "forgivable." This is a legal mechanism for indirectly accusing queer identity. Thus, the killer's condition, not the victim's, is brought to the fore.

Rüzgar was murdered on November 6, 2025, on Bashir Safaroglu Street, near Targovi, in Baku, by her uncle, Babek Ibadov. He lived in Turkey and had only come to Azerbaijan for 10 days to renew his passport.

The next trial is scheduled for April 1. The stage of examining the documents in the criminal case has begun.

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