Statement of state of passion allows Velagaev to avoid punishment for murder

All the chances to achieve punishment for Tagir Velagaev, a pensioner of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), for assassinating his ex-wife Umazhat Guseinova have been exhausted, the advocate of the suffered party has stated. Those accused of committing murders often refer to a state of passion in order to get the verdicts mitigated, human rights defenders have noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 18, the Supreme Court (SC) of Dagestan upheld the ruling passed by the Sovietsky District Court of Makhachkala, which had closed Velagaev's case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution. Thus, he escaped punishment for killing his ex-wife, the human rights project "Travmpunkt" (Trauma Point) has informed.

The murder case of Umazhat Guseinova has been put to rest, Arsen Shabanov, an advocate, has confirmed. "Yes, all the instances where we could appeal against the court ruling have been exhausted," he has stated.

The advocate insists that Guseinova's words during the quarrel could not have caused Velagaev's state of passion.

According to the advocate, Velagaev claimed that before Guseinova's murder, she exclaimed: "I wish your daughters become prostitutes like me!", while she herself was not a prostitute.

The murder of Guseinova fits into the picture of the domestic violence widespread in Dagestan, said Saida Sirazhudinova, the president of the "Caucasus. World. Development" Centre for Studying Contemporary Global Issues and Regional Problems. According to her version, the accused always refer to their being in the state of passion.

Svetlana Gannushkina*, the head of the "Civic Assistance" Committee*, also believes that this case demonstrates the males' impunity in the Caucasus for domestic violence.

A similar opinion was expressed by Aida Mirmaksumova, a Dagestani human rights defender and a co-director of the "Fathers and Daughters" project. "When such murders occur, the suspects often appeal to their state of passion ... And not only in the Caucasus, everywhere," she has stated, believing, however, that the murder of Guseinova does not fit into the picture of domestic violence in Dagestan, since the murdered woman was already Velagaev's ex-wife.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.