Authorities in Azerbaijan say a cousin of local gay activist Avaz Hafizli stabbed him to death last Tuesday. Police conveyed the dead man to a morgue in a garbage truck after refusing to touch his body because he was gay. According to a statement from the prosecutor’s office, Amrulla Gulaliyev murdered his cousin following an argument. Gulaliyev was allegedly under the influence of alcohol at the time. Avaz Hafizli worked as a journalist for local news station 13Kanal. Last year, the activist chained himself to the fence in front of the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office. Azerbaijan is a notoriously homophobic country and over recent years, the government increased crackdowns against LGBTIQ+ people in recent years. LGBTIQ+ people risk imprisonment and torture at the hands of police and blackmail.