10:09, 20 November 2018

Pankisi residents join protest action held by Saralidze and Machalikashvili

Banner informing about hunger strike of Zaza Saralidze and Malkhaz Machalikashvili, Tbilisi. Photo by Inna Kukudzhanova for the Caucasian Knot

In Tbilisi, residents of the Pankisi Gorge have joined the protest action held by Zaza Saralidze, the father of a schoolboy killed in Tbilisi, and Malkhaz Machalikashvili, whose son perished in a special operation in Pankisi.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that two schoolboys, including Zaza Saralidze's son, died on December 1, 2017, from stab wounds received in a brawl. Saralidze asserts that investigators are sheltering the culprits and demands a fair punishment for them. Since September 10, he has been holding a protest action in front of the building of the Georgian Parliament. On November 11, Malkhaz Machalikashvili, whose son was shot dead in a special operation conducted in the Pankisi Gorge, joined the protest action.

On December 26, 2017, Temirlan Machalikashvili, 19, was wounded during a special operation in the Pankisi Gorge, and died two weeks later in hospital. According to law enforcers, he had tried to throw a grenade at them. His relatives assert that the boy was shot dead while in bed; and they have repeatedly gone out to protests.

Malkhaz Machalikashvili said that members of 37 family clans live in the Pankisi Gorge; and all of them came to the rally in Tbilisi on November 19. "They (the residents of Pankisi) are not interested in politics or parties; they demand from the authorities to admit the committed crime," Mr Machalikashvili said in the footage of the Georgian "Rustavi-2" TV Company, which was watched by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 19, 2018 at 11:05 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Inna Kukudzhanova

Source: CK correspondent