Body of Chechen-origin trans man found in Batumi

The body of a 21-year-old trans man was found in the Georgian city of Batumi in mid-August. While Georgian authorities are investigating his death under the incitement-to-suicide statute, the deceased's brother says it could have been a "violent murder" related to his gender identity, reported OC Media.

The body of Dmitry Menyaev, who had lived in Georgia since 2022, was discovered on August 15 in an apartment belonging to his brother, in a building on Mamia Komakhidze Street in Batumi. Residents of the building called 112 after a strong odor coming from the apartment. Menyaev was born in Moscow and lived in Saint Petersburg before moving to Georgia. The first reports of his death emerged in the media on August 22, and the family was notified by authorities after the body was discovered.

Menyaev's brother, Kuzma Yakimets, is demanding that the case be reclassified, saying his brother had shown no signs of distress before his death: "There were no complaints, no heavy topics — it was just plain communication, with no indication of any problem." Yakimets said he last spoke with his brother on August 1, initially believed he had last been seen online on August 3, and later learned that a mutual acquaintance had been in contact with him on August 4.

Noting that he could not disclose details due to the ongoing investigation, Yakimets said the apartment was unusually disordered, with "things scattered everywhere," and that, in his view, there were signs someone else had been in the apartment. Yakimets said he believes the death was violent in nature, but that the case has not yet been reclassified as murder because the investigation is still awaiting an expert opinion. He added: "The main thing is that the death was violent. It wasn't a natural death, it wasn't an accident, and it wasn't a suicide."

Zviad Markoidze, the lawyer representing the family, said that a superficial examination of the body found no signs of violence, but the cause of death has not yet been determined. The lawyer noted that the body had already begun decomposing by the time it was found, which could make determining the cause of death more difficult. The expert opinion has not yet been released.

Georgia's Ministry of Internal Affairs told OC Media that Menyaev's death is being investigated under the Criminal Code's "incitement to suicide" statute.

Yakimets said he does not rule out the possibility that relatives in Chechnya could be connected to his brother's death, or that this could be related to him being trans. That said, Yakimets stressed that he has no evidence to support this claim.

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