Protests Planned in Pankisi Gorge Today

A protest rally is planned for today in Duisi - the main and largest village in the Pankisi Gorge. The rally aims to demand that the government recognize 19-year-old Temirlan Machalikashvili as innocent, and punish those responsible for his death. Machalikashvili died from a bullet wound to the head during a special operation in Pankisi in late December 2017. His father, Malkhaz Machalikashvili, was actively involved in the early June protests on Rustaveli Ave. in front of the Parliament building, standing alongside Zaza Saralidze, the father of murdered high schooler David Saralidze.

Temirlan Machalikashvili's sister told InterPressNews that protestors will gather at 2:00pm at the public center of Duisi and make several demands. The organizers also suggested that the protest could spread to Tbilisi.

Malkhaz Machalikashvili said that the Prime Minister promised to investigate the case, but "the Investigation Commission set up in the Parliament does not mention the name of Temirlan at all...I demand the state to plead guilty and recognize my son’s innocence. Temirlan was killed and this is a reality. They committed a terrorist act in my house. I am not a terrorist, they are terrorists. As soon as Ramadan is over, rallies will be launched in Pankisi."

The Georgian State Security Service alleges that Temirlan Machalikashvili was involved in aiding Chechen terrorist Akhmet Chataev (Akhmed Chatayev) – killed in a shootout with Georgian police in November 2017. The State Security Service conducted an investigative raid in Pankisi in December in connection with Chataev and his accomplices, and claim that Temirlan Machalikashvili was shot when he attempted to activate a hand grenade against the special operatives. Malkhaz Machalikashvili claims his son is innocent and that the government should be held responsible for his death.

Machalikashvili believes the only way to reveal the truth is through public protests.

The Pankisi Gorge is a region of Georgia north of Telavi, populated mainly by the Kist people – ethnic Chechens who have lived in that part of Georgia since the mid-1800s.

By Samantha Guthrie

Photo: 1TV

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