The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has launched a discussion on the high profile case of terrorism suspect Temirlan Machalikashvili, who received a fatal injury during an anti-terrorist raid in Georgia’s Muslim-populated Pankisi Gorge back in 2017.
The family of the deceased 19-year-old man addressed the ECHR on June 6, 2019 and argue that three articles of the European human rights convention have been violated in the Machalikashvili case:
The Machalikashvili family says that Temirlan was “mistakenly killed” in the special operation and has been demanding the punishment of top officials of the Georgian State Security Service, including current Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri, who previously headed the agency.
The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) says that the ECHR has already requested the case materials from Georgia, including the documents related to the planning and implementation of the Pankisi anti-terrorist operation.