08:50, 30 May 2019

Georgian Parliament refuses to investigate Temirlan Machalikashvili's murder

Most Georgian MPs have voted against the creation of an interim commission for investigating the special operation in Pankisi, during which law enforcers killed a local resident, Temirlan Machalikashvili.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in February, Malkhaz, Temirlan's father asked the MPs to express their attitude to this initiative.

Temirlan Machalikashvili, 19, was mortally wounded in his house during a special operation in the Pankisi Gorge on December 26, 2017. According to law enforcers, Temirlan tried to throw a grenade at them. The casualty's family claims that the young man was shot dead in his bed. His relatives have repeatedly held actions demanding an objective investigation of Temirlan's death.

Only 30 out of 150 MPs have supported the initiative to set up a commission for investigating the above special operation.

"For the first time in our country, the responsibility for the murder of a young man who slept quietly at home is denied," said Salome Samadashvili, an MP, on the air of the "Rustavi-2" TV Company.

On May 7, the State Security Service (SSS) of Georgia announced that Malkhaz Machalikashvili himself had planned to commit a terror act in the village of Zemo Machkhaani, at the grave of Ioseb Gogashvili, the father of the former SSS' First Deputy Head.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 29, 2019 at 06:20 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Galina Gotua, Inna Kukudjanova

Source: CK correspondents