A journalist, Akhmedilov was an investigative reporter for the Avar language newspaper Hakikat (“The Truth”) in the Republic of Dagestan, the largest of the Russian Federation republics in the North Caucasus.
Known for his reports on several unsolved assassinations of officials in Dagestan, Akhmedilov was critical of Russian federal forces and local law enforcement for curbing religious and political freedoms under the guise of an “anti-extremism” campaign. He was assassinated — shot to death in his car — in Dagestan’s capital, Makhachkala, on August 11. Akhmedilov was the fourth journalist to be assassinated in the area in the past year in a concerted effort to silence criticism. He was 33.