Prosecutor’s office suspends investigation into high-profile Machalikashvili case
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Wednesday, January 29
The General Prosecutor's Office has suspended the investigation into the case of Temirlan Machalikashvili on January 25, 2020. The Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson stated at a special briefing yesterday that they uncovered ‘no abuse of authority’ in the case, adding that a special unit serviceman “was forced to shoot as Machalikashvili refused to show his hands and attempted to activate a hand grenade.”
According to the statement, the comprehensive investigation has confirmed that a special operations employee was in the necessary self-defense situation, the danger was real, immediate, and his only goal in this action was to protect his own life and the health of others.
“The hand grenade was seized as a result of a search of the living room. The search was attended by Temirlan Machalikashvili's father, who confirmed the correctness of the data in the search protocol,” he added.
According to the statement, the decision to terminate the investigation, in turn, made it possible to summarize Machalikashvili's criminal case pending at the Counterterrorism Center of the State Security Service, which, among other topics, involved searches for Temirlan Machalikashvili’s services for terrorists and a terrorist organization and purchase and maintenance of firearms.
“As for the criminal case pending at the Counterterrorism Center itself, the investigation is continuing to identify and prosecute other persons involved in the crime,” said the prosecutor's office.
Within the framework of the investigation, 124 persons were interviewed as witnesses, dozens of investigation and procedural activities were conducted, and different types of forensic investigations were carried out. According to the prosecutor’s office “all members of the Machalikashvili family, their neighbors and all the 32 special unit servicemen involved in the raid were interrogated.”
Malkhaz Machalikashvili, the father of Temirlan Machalikashvili, says that there was “no investigation” of the case at all as “top state officials are involved in the crime.”
“What else would the prosecution, which has been lying to the public for two years, say? What else should I expect? Where is the prosecutor's office or the court ?! They were trying to make up for their lies in some way,” says Malkhaz Machalikashvili.
He said he would continue to fight for the truth despite the prosecution's termination of the investigation.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has launched consideration of the lawsuit filed on behalf of the family of Temirlan Machalikashvili in October 2019.
The European Court is considering the case of Machalikashvili and Others against Georgia. The court has already appealed to the Georgian government and requested the submission of documents related to the investigation into Temirlan Machalikashvili's death, including the planning and implementation of special operations.
Machalikashvili's interests in the European Court are represented by the Human Rights and Monitoring Center (EMC).
Temirlan Machalikashvili was fatally wounded on December 26, 2017, as a result of a special operation in the village of Duisi in Pankisi Gorge.
Temirlan Machalikashvili's parents have so far demanded that the state plead guilty, for which they are holding rallies outside the parliament building. They were collecting signatures throughout Georgia demanding the creation of an ad hoc parliamentary inquiry commission.
