Aza Gazgireyeva (Russian: Аза Азгиреева, d. June 10, 2009), last name also spelled Gazgireeva, was a Russian jurist who served as the Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ingushetia.[1] She was assassinated in Nazran on June 10, 2009.
Gazgireyeva became Deputy Chief Justice on the Ingush Supreme Court following the assassination of her predecessor on the court, Khasan Yandiyev, on April 13, 2008.[1][2]
On June 10, 2009, gunmen opened fire on Gazgireyeva's chauffer-driven van in the Ingushetian city of Nazran shortly after she dropped her children off at kindergarten.[1][3] At least one gunman reportedly walked up to Gazgireyeva and shot her in the head.[1] Five other people, including a one year old child, were injured during the attack on Gazgireyeva, according to Russian television broadcasts.[1] The gunmen escaped in two cars.[4] Gazgireyeva died at a hospital in Nazran hours after the attack.[3]
Gazgireyeva is believed to have been killed because of her work on the court.[5] She oversaw Supreme Court trials involving crimes carried out by Islamic extremists and separatist groups in Russia's North Caucasus region.[5] In particular, she may have been targeted because of her role in the investigation of a 2004 attack on Ingush police forces by Chechen militants.[4] The Chairman of the Ingush Supreme Court, Mikhail Zadvornov, told Russia's Interfax news agency that, "Aza Gazgireyeva was a judge with 25 years experience... the reason for her murder was her professional activities."[4]
Ingushetia's Deputy Interior Minister Valery Zhernov called Gazgireyeva's killing both "brutal" and "brazen".[1]
Gazgireyeva's assassination came just eighteen months after the shooting death of her predecessor, Khasan Yandiyev.[1] Her death came amidst a series of attacks on officials in Ingushetia and other parts of Russia's troubled Caucus region. Adilgerei Magomedtagirov, a Russian general and Interior Minister of the neighboring Republic of Dagestan, was shot and killed by snipers at a wedding on June 5, 2009.[1][6] The President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was critically wounded in a suicide bombing on June 22, 2009, just twelve days after Gazgireyeva's death.[6]