Malkhaz Machalikashvili resumes collecting signatures in Tbilisi

A father of Temirlan Machalikashvili, who was killed during a special operation in the Pankisi Gorge, and volunteers who supported him continued to collect signatures under a petition to create an investigative commission at the parliament. For the petition to be considered, it is required to collect about 50,000 signatures more.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the relatives of Temirlan Machalikashvili are seeking the creation of a special commission to investigate his murder, but in May 2019, most members of the Georgian parliament voted against the above initiative. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has begun to consider the complaint of the Machalikashvili family in connection with "inhuman treatment and ineffective investigation" into the case on his death.

According to Malkhaz Machalikashvili, while the police were dismantling his tent in late December 2019, almost half of the signatures collected in support of the creation of the parliamentary commission were lost.

"Only those signatures that I collected in the regions were retained. Now I have to restore and collect about 50,000 signatures in order to submit to the parliament a petition on the creation of an interim commission," Malkhaz Machalikashvili told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"The European Court will give its assessment. However, the Machalikashvili family wants to achieve justice, using internal levers so that Georgia itself becomes fair," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Mari Kublashvili, an advocate of the Machalikashvili family.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 19, 2020 at 04:49 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.