A man will spend life behind bars after he stabbed a transgender actress and model to death in the South Caucasus country of Georgia last year.
Beka Jaiani, 26, was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of murdering Kesaria Abramidze, 37 on September 18, 2024.
Abramidze was stabbed in the neck more than 50 times in the horrific attack, which took place in her own home in the capital Tbilisi.
Jaiani had partially admitted guilt but rejected accusations of particular cruelty or that there were gender-based motives for his actions.
He was not in the Tbilisi courtroom for the verdict today, saying his psychological and emotional state prevented his being there, but added he regretted his actions.
His lawyer, Giorgi Mdinaradze, denounced the verdict as ‘based solely on moral considerations rather than moral grounds,’ and said he would appeal the conviction.
According to local media reports, Jaiani and Abramidze were in a relationship for about two years and fought a lot before the killing in September 2024.
CCTV footage captured on the day of the horrific murder showed Jaiani waiting by a lift in Abramidze’s apartment block, and then running down the stairs in the same building less than 10 minutes later.
A man was sentenced to life iin prison today after being found guilty of murdering trans actress and model Kesaria Abramidze (pictured)
Kesaria Abramidze, 37, from Tbilisi Georgia, was killed the day after parliament in the Eastern European state had passed a law banning LGBT propaganda
Neighbours heard screams and went to her apartment where they found her blood-drenched body.
The victim was a well-known and popular figure in Georgia after undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 2014.
She had represented Georgia at Miss Trans Star International in 2018 and had more than half a million online followers.
Her killing is the third high-profile murder of a transgender woman in Georgia in recent years.
The murder of Abramidze came a day after parliament in the Eastern European state passed a law banning LGBTQ+ propaganda, with her death sparking widespread outrage.
A day after the killing, dozens of mourners brought flowers and candles to a makeshift memorial in central Tbilisi to Abramidze, whom members of the LGBTQ+ community praised as a symbol of strength and freedom.
Although activists did not link the killing to the passage of the legislation, some feared the new laws could lead to an increase in hate crimes.
Abramidze’s killer Beka Jaiani, 26, was captured on CCTV waiting for his victim in her apartment block and then running down the stairs in the same building 10 minutes later
Abramidze’s killing is the third high-profile murder of a transgender woman in Georgia in recent years
She was a well-known popular figure in Georgia after undergoing a sex change operation in 2014
Her death was also a chilling reminder of the LGBTQ+ community’s vulnerability in Georgia, a country of 3.7 million people where the Orthodox Church wields significant influence, and demonstrations against gay rights are common.
LGBTQ+ rights were severely curtailed by the laws that banned same-sex marriage, adoptions by same-sex couples and public endorsement and depictions of LGBTQ+ relationships and people in the media.
The laws also banned gender-affirming care and changing gender designations in official documents.
The bill was introduced by Georgia Dream, the longtime ruling party, which opponents have accused of steering the country toward Russia’s orbit despite popular sentiment for closer ties with Europe.
Georgian Dream was set up by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia and served briefly as Georgia’s prime minister in 2012.
It promised to restore civil rights and ‘reset’ relations with Moscow, which fought a brief war with Georgia in 2008 over the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Russia then recognized the independence of South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian province, Abkhazia, and established military bases there.
Russia has also severely curtailed LGBTQ+ rights in the last decade by banning public endorsement of ‘nontraditional sexual relations’ and adopting laws against gender-affirming care, among other measures.
Its Supreme Court effectively outlawed LGBTQ+ activism by labeling what authorities called the LGBTQ+ ‘movement’ operating in Russia as an extremist organization and banning it.
She had also represented Georgia at Miss Trans Star International in 2018 and had more than half a million online followers
A portrait of Kesaria Abramidze, a transgender actor and model who was stabbed to death, is displayed at a vigil near parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Sept. 19, 2024
Opponents of gay rights burn LGBTQ+ flags to counter a pride event in Tbilisi, Georgia, on July 8, 2023
The actress’ death is a chilling reminder of the LGBTQ+ community’s vulnerability in Georgia
The measure restricting LGBTQ+ rights in Georgia came shortly after the parliament adopted the ‘foreign influence’ law that critics denounced as borrowed from Moscow’s playbook.
The measure requires media and nongovernmental organizations to register as ‘pursuing the interests of a foreign power’ if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.
That measure ignited weeks of protests and was widely criticized as threatening democratic freedoms and jeopardizing Georgia’s chances of joining the European Union.
It formally applied for membership in 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but the bloc halted its accession in response to the ‘foreign influence’ law and froze some of its financial support.
The United States imposed sanctions on dozens of Georgian officials in response to the law.
With opposition lawmakers boycotting, the Georgian Dream-dominated parliament adopted a law earlier this month that made not registering as a foreign agent a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
Georgian Dream said the measure matched the Foreign Agents Registration Act in the U.S.
Parliament also adopted amendments to existing laws replacing the word ‘gender’ with ‘the equality of women and men.’
