Rovshan Janiev

Rovshan Janiev (January 27 1975 - ) (Russian: Ровшан Джаниев, Azeri: Rövşən Rafiq oğlu Cəniyev) is an ethnic Azeri gangster and member of the Russia mafia in Ukraine. He has never been recognized as a thief in law by notable thieves such as Vyacheslav Ivankov and Aslan Usoyan.

When Janiev was 17, his father, a policeman, was murdered by local gangsters whom he was investigating. An enraged Rovshan took a gun to the courtroom where the accused's hearing was being held and threatened to kill him, for which he received two years in prison. Later in 2000, he shot dead a prominent Baku crime boss in broad daylight and was subsequently beaten so severely that he developed mental illness. Taking this into account, the court released him after just a few months imprisonment. But fearing for his life, Janiev fled Azerbaijan for Moscow where he grew more and more powerful within the underworld and eventually controlled all the ethnic Azeri gangs in Moscow, running protection rackets and drug trafficking.^[1]

Eventually competition over territory grew with the Caucasian gangs led by Aslan Usoyan. In 2010 an attempt was made on Usoyan's life and it has been theorised that Janiev, who had been arrested trying to enter Ukraine shortly afterwards (where he already controlled some criminal business and had been previously granted refugee status), had a major part in its planning and execution.^[2]

In January 2013 Usoyan was targeted again and this time died. Janiev, along with Tariel Oniani, was regarded as a primary suspect. Shortly afterwards Astamur Guliya, Abkhaz gangster and ally of Janiev was gunned down in Sukhimi.^[3] Janiev himself was reported killed in Istanbul on February 6th, ^[4] but this claim has been denied by his brother Emil, who claims he is currently alive and well in the United Arab Emirates.^[5]

References