Turkish court orders retrial in Russian feminist’s killing amid concerns of a cover-up

Earlier this month, a court in Turkey overturned the acquittal of Mohammad Nizar Arnabeh, who was tried for murdering his fiancée, Russian feminist activist Anastasia Yemelyanova, in September 2023. The appellate bench granted a complaint against Arnabeh’s original ruling and sent the case for a retrial, the news outlet Mediazona reported on Tuesday.

Varvara Mikhailova, a fellow human rights activist who knew Yemelyanova, told Mediazona that she suspects the retrial could be an attempt to cover up procedural violations during the investigation. According to Mikhailova, the prosecution’s case is based on Arnabeh’s confessions, which she claims could have been obtained through torture.

“I think the retrial court will deliver a guilty verdict based on the same evidence that led to the acquittal, simply because they were told to do so from above,” Mikhailova said.