Temirlan Machalikashvili's relatives file complaint to ECtHR

A complaint about an ineffective investigation into the murder of Temirlan Machalikashvili during a special operation in the Pankisi Gorge was submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Tamta Mikeladze, a human rights defender, has stated today.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Temirlan Machalikashvili's father and his relatives have been holding protest actions in Tbilisi for more than a year demanding to punish those guilty of Temirlan's murder.

The NGO "Centre for Human Rights Training and Monitoring" has drafted and sent a complaint to the ECtHR about the "inefficient investigation" into Temirlan Machalikashvili's case, Ms Mikeladze, the head of this NGO, has stated today.

"More than a year has passed; and we see no results of the investigation," Tamta Mikeladze said at a briefing broadcast by the Georgian "Imedi" TV Company (translated by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent).

Tamta Mikeladze has expressed her hope that international legal mechanisms would be "most efficient."

In his turn, Malkhaz Machalikashvili, Temirlan's father, has stated that he had initially claimed that "not a single person" would tell the truth about the above special operation.

"I have only one demand – these authorities at this state should recognize the terror act committed in the Pankisi Gorge," Malkhaz Machalikashvili has stated on air of the above TV Company.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 6, 2019 at 07:25 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.