Aza Adlopovna Gazgireyeva (russian: Аза Адлоповна Газгиреева; 29 October 1954, Saran,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

– 10 June 2009,

Nazran , ''Näsare'') is the largest city in the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia. It served as the republic's capital in 1991–2000, until it was replaced with Magas, which was specially built for this purpose. It is the most populous city in the republic: ...

), also known as Aza Gazgireeva, was an

Ingush Ingush may refer to: * Ingush language * Ingush people The Ingush (, inh, ГIалгIай, translit=Ghalghaj, pronounced ) per Oxford dictionary "a member of a people living mainly in Ingushetia in the central Caucasus." Ingushetia is a federa ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

who served as the deputy chief justice of the

Supreme Court of Ingushetia The Supreme Court of Ingushetia is the highest legal tribunal of the Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with ...

. She was assassinated in

on 10 June 2009. Gazgireyeva became deputy chief justice on the Ingush Supreme Court following the

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

of her predecessor on the court,

Khasan Yandiyev Khasan Iragiyevich Yandiyev (russian: Хаса́н Ира́гиевич Янди́ев; 17 July 1948, Almaty, Kazakhstan – 13 April 2008, Karabulak) was a Russian judge who served as the deputy head of the Supreme Court of Ingushetia. He pre ...

, on 13 April 2008. On 10 June 2009, gunmen opened fire on Gazgireyeva's

chauffeur A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine. Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to speciali ...

-driven van in the Ingushetian city of

shortly after she dropped her children off at kindergarten. At least one gunman reportedly walked up to Gazgireyeva and shot her in the head. Five other people, including a one-year-old child, were injured during the attack on Gazgireyeva, according to Russian television broadcasts. The gunmen escaped in two cars. Gazgireyeva died at a hospital in Nazran hours after the attack. Gazgireyeva is believed to have been killed because of her work on the court. She oversaw Supreme Court trials involving crimes carried out by

Islamic extremists Islamic extremism, Islamist extremism, or radical Islam, is used in reference to extremist beliefs and behaviors which are associated with the Islamic religion. These are controversial terms with varying definitions, ranging from academic unde ...

and separatist groups in Russia's

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...

region. She may have been targeted for her role in the investigation of a 2004 attack on Ingush police forces by Chechen militants. The chairman of the Ingush Supreme Court, Mikhail Zadvornov, told Russia's

Interfax Interfax (russian: Интерфакс) is a Russian news agency. The agency is owned by Interfax News Agency joint-stock company and is headquartered in Moscow. History As the first non-governmental channel of political and economic informatio ...

news agency that, "Aza Gazgireyeva was a

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

with 25 years experience ... the reason for her murder was her professional activities." Ingushetia's deputy

interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Valery Zhernov The French name Valery () is a male given name or surname of Germanic origin ''Walaric'' (see Walric of Leuconay), that has often been confused in modern times with the Latin name ''Valerius''—that explains the variant spelling Valéry (). The S ...

called Gazgireyeva's killing both "brutal" and "brazen". Gazgireyeva's assassination came just eighteen months after the shooting death of her predecessor,

. Her death came amidst a series of attacks on officials in Ingushetia and other parts of Russia's troubled Caucasus region.

Adilgerei Magomedtagirov Adilgerei Magomedovich Magomedtagirov (russian: Адильгере́й Магоме́дович Магомедтаги́ров; 1 November 1956, Gonoda, Gunibsky District – 5 June 2009, Makhachkala) was a Dagestan politician and general, who s ...

, a Russian

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

and

of neighboring

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

, was shot dead on 5 June 2009. The

President of Ingushetia The Head of the Republic of Ingushetia (russian: Глава Республики Ингушетия), formerly ''President of the Republic of Ingushetia'', is the highest office within the Government of Ingushetia, Russia. The Head is elected by ...

Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was critically wounded in a suicide bombing on 22 June 2009, less than two weeks after Gazgireyeva's death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gazgireyeva, Aza 2009 deaths Assassinated Russian people Ingush people People from Ingushetia Russian judges Russian murder victims Place of birth missing Russian women judges 20th-century Russian people 21st-century Russian people 21st-century judges 1954 births 21st-century women judges 20th-century Russian women