Popular 37-year-old transgender model Kesaria Abramidze has been killed in Tbilisi, the Georgian Interior Ministry has confirmed.
She was found with stab wounds in her own apartment in Didi Digomi, reports “Echo of the Caucasus”, forensic experts are working at the scene of the murder.
TV channel “Pirveli”, citing unnamed sources, reports that a 30-year-old man is suspected of the crime, who is wanted by law enforcement officers – his identity has been established. A photo distributed on the Internet helped.
Friends and acquaintances of the woman say that Kesaria was in a long-term relationship with a partner, during which she was repeatedly subjected to violence. According to her, there was a case when after another beating she managed to survive only thanks to the help of neighbors.
Kesaria Abramidze is the most famous transgender woman in Georgia. She regularly participated in various shows, starred in TV series, gave scandalous interviews. In 2018, she represented Georgia at a beauty contest that was held among transgender people.
Later it became known that the killer had been arrested. How reports BBC, police have detained a 26-year-old murder suspect in a “hot pursuit”. Investigators believe that the suspect stabbed Abramidze multiple times in her apartment over an argument, after which he fled the scene. Police are calling the suspect by his initials B.J., although many Georgian and foreign publications have already revealed his full name and reported that he worked as a security guard at a Tbilisi bar.
Abramidze died from her wounds on the spot. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the murder weapon, a knife, was seized as material evidence. The investigation is being conducted under the article on intentional murder based on gender and with particular cruelty. The article provides for 16 to 20 years or life imprisonment. Georgian TV channels have distributed footage from surveillance cameras at Abramidze's entrance, in which the allegedly detained man is waiting for the elevator, and after a while runs down the stairs.
Abramidze's acquaintances told journalists that she had been repeatedly subjected to violence and threats by B.J. He himself, according to his lawyer, enjoys the right to remain silent and has not yet given evidence. According to preliminary information, the detainee will be formally charged on Friday.
It is worth recalling that the Georgian parliament, in its final, third reading, adopted the bill “On Family Values and Protection of Minors.” This document, among other things, effectively prohibits “LGBT propaganda” in the country.
The document was adopted unanimously: the opposition was not present at the plenary session, many of them are boycotting the work after the adoption of the law on “foreign agents”.
The murder of Abramidze, who appeared on many television shows and did not hide her gender identity, caused a wide resonance in Georgia.
“A horrible murder! A denial of humanity! Maybe this will at least sober up our society… mired in hatred, a hatred that gives the enemy the opportunity for any manipulation, that weakens and divides us. Maybe at least the death of this beautiful young woman will humanize and Christianize us… Let this tragedy not be in vain!” wrote Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili on Facebook.
The murder took place amid an election campaign by the ruling Georgian Dream party, which is being conducted under the slogan of “fighting LGBT propaganda” and protecting family values, and a day after parliament adopted legislation restricting the rights of LGBT people.
More than thirty Georgian civil society organizations have called on the Georgian president to veto the package, calling it the legitimization of hatred, censorship and discrimination.
The European Union also called on the authorities to completely revise the package, noting that it undermines fundamental rights and will lead to discrimination and stigmatization of part of the Georgian population.
A silent vigil in memory of Abramidze was held outside the parliament building in Tbilisi on Thursday evening. People brought flowers and lit candles near a photograph of Abramidze. There, activists unfurled banners protesting the “fascist legislation” passed by parliament. Those gathered at the vigil said Abramidze’s murder was a particularly alarming sign for transgender women in Georgia, who already felt unsafe.
“This is not just the murder of one beautiful, strong and self-actualized woman. The murder of any transgender woman is an alarming signal, but she was the most protected of the transgender women – financially, with connections. We don't feel safe anyway, and even more so when such a person is killed like this,” says Nata Talikishvili, a participant in the action.
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