13:12, 17 June 2020

Rights defenders criticize SSS' arguments on Machalikashvili's guilt

Temirlan Machalikashvili. Photo: Mziya Saganilidze, RFE/RL

Temirlan Machalikashvili, who was killed during a special operation in Pankisi, had contacted Akhmed Chataev and members of his grouping, while some correspondence was found in Temirlan's mobile phone, which indicates his readiness to commit a self-explosion act in a crowded place, the Georgian State Security Service (SSS) asserts. Machalikashvili could interact with terrorists, not knowing their goals and intentions, the NGO "Centre for Human Rights Training and Protection" has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Temirlan's father is holding protests in Tbilisi demanding to punish those responsible for his son's death.

The 19-year-old Temirlan Machalikashvili was mortally wounded during a special operation on December 26, 2017, conducted in the Pankisi Gorge. Law enforcers claimed that he was trying to throw a grenade at them. Temirlan's family claims that the young man was shot dead while in bed.

The NGO admits that information on the Machalikashvili case was enough to detain him, but not enough to suggest his ties with terrorists.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has begun considering the complaint lodged by the Machalikashvili family in connection with "inhuman treatment and inefficient investigation" of Temirlan's death.

Gela Nikolaishvili, an activist of the NGO "Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights", believes that Temirlan's correspondence with his girlfriend about his intention to commit a self-explosion act could be treated as his recognition as a terrorist.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 17, 2020 at 03:43 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.