Georgian PM Meets Malkhaz Machalikashvili
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili met Malkhaz Machalikashvili, the father of 19-year-old Temirlan Machalikashvili, killed during a special anti-terrorist operation in Pankisi Gorge in late December.
The meeting was attended by Machalikashvili’s lawyers, Public Defender Nino Lomjaria, Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia and the Head of the Governmental Administration, Shalva Tadumadze, in the afternoon of June 4 at the governmental administration.
"I do not want you to feel that you are ignored by the state and that we refuse to communicate with you. You personally have not asked to meet me. I want to once again offer my sympathy to you, your family and all the people of Pankisi," the PM told Machalikashvili, who announced large-scale protest rallies after the Ramadan feast is over.
According to the press service of the Governmental Administration, at the beginning of the meeting, the Prime Minister said he never refuses to communicate with his citizens.
Kvirikashvili listened to the questions of Machalikashvilis’ family related to the special operation carried out in Pankisi, heard the lawyers' opinions about the investigation process and said he would do his best to prevent injustice in the case.
Temirlan Machalikashvili, 19, received a head-wound during the special operation in the Pankisi Gorge on 26 December 2017. Georgian law-enforcers claim that Machalikashvili was shot when he tried to detonate a grenade. However, the family and relatives say that he was sleeping when law-enforcers shot him without warning.
The father of the deceased young man has several demands. He wants law enforcers to confess that his son was killed by mistake. He also demands his family be granted the status of victim, adding his son was the victim of someone’s mistake.
The man calls on the government to hold everyone involved in the operation responsible, adding the authorities are trying to accuse his son of having links with terrorists.
“I will not let anyone to smear my son’s name with absurd charges. I want the offenders to be arrested. If not, I will find my own way to restore justice,” Machalikashvili told RFE/RL earlier.
By Thea Morrison