Prosecutor’s Office vows to end the investigation on the high-profile case of Machalikashvili
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, May 8
The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office says that the investigation on possible exceeding of power on the high-profile case of Temirlan Macgalikashvili, when a special unit serviceman shot the 19-year-old during an anti-terrorist raid in Georgia’s Muslim-populated Pankisi gorge in 2017, will come to an end in two months.
The Office says that they are waiting for the results of an autopsy.
The Prosecutor’s Office claims that various activities have been carried out from 2017 to reveal the truth around the incident which claimed the life of Temirlan Machalikashvili.
The Machalikashvili family, who is sure that the youngster was shot mistakenly, has low trust to the investigation.
Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC), an NGO working on human rights issues, has responded to the Prosecutor’s Office by saying that the results of the autopsy are already known.
“It is surprising on why the Prosecutor’s Office is waiting for the results of the autopsy when the autopsy already revealed that the reason of death was a shot in the head,” EMC says.
EMC has urged the Prosecutor’s Office to hold accountable the serviceman who shot Machalikashvili, as well as those people who planned the raid.
“Father of Temirlan Machalikashvili must be granted the status of victim and lawyers must be allowed to have access to the case materials,” EMC said.
Temirlan Machalikashvili died on January 10, 2018, from the severe head injury he received during the December 26 raid.
The State Security Service says that Machalikashvili had a hand grenade.
The Pankisi raid came after the large-scale anti-terrorist operation in Tbilisi on November 21-22 2017, which saw Islamic State terrorist Ahmed Chatayev and his two accomplices killed and one detained.
Georgia’s State Security Service claims Chatayev and his group planned attacks on diplomats in Turkey and Georgia.
The December raid in Pankisi aimed at detaining the people who supported Chatayev to come to Georgia, buy weapons and find an accommodation, security officials stated.
During the Pankisi raid, Machalikashvili was wounded and four others were detained for alleged support for terrorism.
The Machalikashvili family says that the Security Service rushed in a wrong house and a special unit serviceman could not differentiate a mobile phone from a hand grenade.
They state that the deceased is a victim with no links to terrorism, and all who planned and executed the raid must be held accountable, including the current head of the State Security Service Vakhtang Gomelauri.
