Exiled Azerbaijani journalist shot and wife murdered in France

An Azerbaijani journalist forced into exile in France was seriously wounded and his wife was killed on Friday in a gun attack near the southern city of Toulouse, police said.

French police officers at the site where Rahim Namazov, an Azerbaijani journalist living in exile in France, and his wife were targeted by gunfire in Colomiers, outside Toulouse, on 30 March 2018. AFP/ Pascal Pavani

Rahim Namazov, a father of three, fled his oil-rich homeland in Central Asia for France in 2010 after suffering death threats and being imprisoned.

The 39-year-old is fighting for his life in hospital after suffering serious back injuries while his wife died after being hit in the head during the shooting in front of their home on Friday morning in the town of Colomiers near Toulouse.

One of their children, their 15-year-old son, was in the apartment at the time and heard the gunfire, according to local authorities.The boy is now being looked after by a local trauma group.

Police said that seven bullets were fired in total.

Azerbaijan has been ruled by the repressive family of a strongman president Ilham Aliyev since 1993.

With AFP