Said Amirov

Said Dzhaparovich Amirov (, born 5 March 1954) is a Dagestani economist and former politician for United Russia who was mayor of Makhachkala from 1998 to 2013. He was detained in June 2013 on suspicion of having ordered the murder of state investigator Arsen Gadzhibeko in 2011. Amirov was suspended from his position as mayor of Makhachkala on 14 June 2013 by the Basmanny Court of Moscow which also ruled that Amirov could be kept in custody until November 2013. He is currently serving a life sentence on charges of terrorism and commissioning contract killings. Early life and civil career Said Amirov was born in the village Dzhanga-Makhi in central Dagestan, an area from which many leading politicians in Dagestan hail. He is an ethnic Dargin. Amirov obtained a degree in economics at the All-Union Institute of the Food Industry in 1983, and a Candidate degree in economics from the St. Petersburg Engineering and Economics Institute in 1992. In 2006, he obtained a doctorate degree. He teaches at Dagestan's State University, and is a member of the Academy of Social and Humanitarian Sciences, and the Russian Municipal Academy. From 1971 to 1991, Amirov worked in various positions for consumers' cooperatives, ultimately becoming chairman of the consumers' union Dagpotrebsoyuz.