Scandal murder in Baku

Chief Investigator known for resolving the most notorious crimes was slain

Baku was the scene for one of the most scandalous murders over the past few years in Azerbaijan, when former War Prosecutor and one time Chief Prosecutor of Baku Rovshan Aliyev was killed. He had been heading chief of the investigation department of the Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan.

He was gunned down on Wednesday night in downtown Baku near the Prosecutor's Office at the doorway of the building of his acquaintance. Waiting for him downstairs, two unidentified men fired into in his chest several times and shot his head at blank point.

Rovshan Aliyev was famous for resolving the most celebrated cases over the past decade organized by the former Soviet KGB and Islamic radicals from Hezbolla. His record entails resolving murders of celebrities such as Academician and MP Ziya Bunyadov, chief of the Special Presidential Department (Security Service) Shamsi Rahimov and director of "Azernashr", Azerbaijan's key publishing house under the Soviet times, Ajdar Khanbabayev.

Immediately following the killing, the wife of the deceased told journalists that she knew those who had ordered the murder. "I know who killed my husband. But, my lips will be sealed. If something happens to my children I will reveal the names of all enmeshed in the killing. Then, most of the top rankings will suffer".

Also noteworthy is that the criminologist knew about the plot. Media suggest that R. Aliyev, who had repeatedly faced attempts on his life when doing his duty, had been warning his wife and the Prosecutor's Office of danger three days prior to the murder.

According to investigating authorities, a 13-year-old boy playing outside saw the murderers, something could help resolve the crime.

The investigating group is led by the Interior Minister Ramil Usubov.

Versions

There are several versions of the killing, but they all point to an assassination that was related to professional activities of the prosecutor.

A first version is of political nature. Former Deputy Prosecutor General Isa Najafov, a close friend of R. Aliyev, has alleged that the murder could have been engineered both by the KGB and Hezbolla radicals.

A second says that the murder is tied to his latest cases, including a series of abductions by a gang of kidnappers, as most of the band are still at large.

Yet, there is another noteworthy detail in the overawing crime. The law enforcer was murdered at the doorway of not his, but his acquaintance's building. To trap him required a detailed awareness of his appearing in the site at a 'convenient time', something to be investigated furthermore.

Services without honors

The career of Rovashan Aliyev, who occupied different top positions in the Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan, has been muddled enough. One of his greatest successes was resolution of the murder of Academician Ziya Bunyadov, a renowned historian and the Hero of the Soviet Union for his heroism in Word War II. It wasn't easy to track down the murderers, but not for R. Aliyev, who managed to trace the Islamic extremist from Hezbolla in the killing.

R. Aliyev's friends describe him as shining with boldness, will and intuitiveness. His family is grieving over another fact that he didn't get the honor he deserved for services to the motherland while alive.