Participants in Pankisi Gorge CTO suspected of exceeding powers
The Georgian Prosecutor's Office is investigating the circumstances of the counterterrorist operation (CTO), during which a 19-year-old villager in the Pankisi Gorge was seriously wounded. In its appeal to the government, the village council of elders treated law enforcers' actions as unacceptable.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 26, the Georgian State Security Service (SSS) reported the detention of five persons during the CTO conducted in the villages of Omalo and Duisi in the Pankisi Gorge. One of the detainees, Temirlan Machalikashvili, wanted to throw a grenade at law enforcers, and they wounded him, the SSS reports. His family members assert that the 19-year-old boy rendered no resistance; and the grenade was planted on him.
Law enforcers have linked the detentions in the Pankisi Gorge with the CTO held in Tbilisi on November 21-22, which resulted in the death of three suspects of terrorism. One of those killed was Akhmed Chataev, wanted in Russia.
On December 26, the Georgian Ombudsman appealed to the prosecutor's office asking to clear out whether the use of force by law enforcers was unjustified.
According to doctors, Machalikashvili's condition is still very grave.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Source: CK correspondent