Date

01/10/2010  

First

Dayan  

Surname

SHAKIROV  

Sex/Age

M, 19  

Incident

not confirmed  

Motive

?J  

Place

near army base  

Job

journalist  

Medium

print  

Federal District Plus

VOLGA  

Street, Town, Region

Yurya settlement, Kirov Region  

Freelance

YES  

Local/National

Local, "Chelyabinsk rabochy" newspaper  

Other Ties

conscript in army  

Cause of Death

beaten?  

Legal Qualification

Article 110 ("Incitement to suicide") of the RF Criminal Code  

Impunity

investigation, halted  

CAUSE OF DEATH UNCONFIRMED (October 2010)

A would-be freelancer for the “Chelyabinsk rabochy” newspaper, Dayan Shakirov has died in unclear circumstances. Early in 2010 Shakirov came to the newspaper offices and told the editors that he was preparing articles about how he had lived rough for a while, and about the people who made money from the illegal Tajik migrants living in cardboard houses on the city refuse dump. Then Shakirov was called up for service in the army. There he continued to keep a diary of his observations. The daily’s editors waited for his articles but none arrived. Instead they received notification that Shakirov had committed suicide.

*

UNCLEAR CIRCUMSTANCES (October 2010)

Dayan Shakirov died in unclear circumstances near the Yurya settlement in the Urals (Kirov Region), where he was serving in the army. (Photo shows Shakirov, left, with a friend.)

Early in 2010 Shakirov came to the offices of the “Chelyabinsk rabochy” daily and offered to write pieces as a freelancer. The editors agreed to read what he wrote and he set about finding material for the newspaper. Then Shakirov was called up for service in the army. The daily’s editors waited for his articles but none arrived. Instead they received notification that Shakirov had committed suicide.

When his family finally saw the young soldier’s body they reported that it was covered with bruises. The Kirov military prosecutor’s office started a criminal investigation under Article 110 of the RF Criminal Code (“Incitement to commit suicide”). Shakirov’s diary had disappeared, it seemed. The military prosecutor’s office carried out its investigation but did not identify who had driven Dayan Shakirov to kill himself.

His mother Amina does not accept the conclusions of the prosecutors. She has hired a lawyer and wants to appeal against their decision to halt the investigation. She intends to demand an independent investigation and the punishment of those responsible for Dayan’s death. When Shakirov’s mother came to the newspaper’s office to obtain a character reference for her son (it was required by the court), journalists learned fresh details.

The diary Dayan was keeping in the army had not been lost. It was preserved as part of the investigation case materials but his mother was denied any access to the document. Her son often called her up from other people’s phones, she said. For some reason his mobile phone had been confiscated. Dayan asked her to send him money. Amina Mavlyutovna is convinced that her son died because he began to investigate the suicide of another conscript.

Source: GDF, deceased journalists, October 2010