Police arrest former Dagestani prime minister’s son on murder charges

On July 29, police arrested Murtazili Medzhidov — the son of former Dagestani Prime Minister Mukhtar Medzhidov — on suspicion of murdering a 21-year-old student at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in April 2018. The alleged victim, a woman from Kazakhstan named Tomiris Baisafa, fell from a fourth-story window on the university’s campus and later died in the hospital.

After the fatal incident, reporters learned that Baisafa was dating Murtazili Medzhidov before she died and had a heated argument with him shortly before her fall. According to the television network REN-TV, police questioned Medzhidov afterward but never pressed charges.

Tomiris Baisafa’s death was a major news story in Kazakhstan, where the local human rights commissioner publicly asked his Russian counterpart, Tatyana Moskalkova, to take personal control over the case and “ensure an objective investigation.”

Mukhtar Medzhidov served as Dagestan’s prime minister in 2013 from January to July. He previously held positions as the Dagestani government’s deputy chairman and first deputy chairman. From 2007 to 2009, he was an adviser to the head of Dagestan. From 1995 to 1999, he worked as a legislator in the republic’s national assembly.