13:13, 9 January 2021

Pankisi residents demand amnesty for convicts under Chataev's case

Pankisi residents hold protest action after special operation in December of 2017. Photo: Giorgi Aladashvili (RFE/RL)

The protesters in the Pankisi Gorge have urged MPs to mitigate the punishment for the locals convicted of aiding Chataev's terrorist grouping.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that a mass amnesty is being prepared in Georgia; however, the parliament, where the respective bill is being discussed, has not finally defined the list of articles, under which convicts will be released.

A protest action was held by local residents and members of the council of elders on January 8 in the village of Duisi. They demanded to apply the amnesty law also to those convicted of assisting terrorism in Chataev's case, the "Sputnik-Georgia" has reported.

In November 2017, during a special operation in Tbilisi, Akhmed Chataev was killed by law enforcers, and Said Dudaev, a Russian citizen, was detained. Eight people were accused of aiding Chataev's terrorist grouping. The court sentenced them to prison terms from 8 to 13 years.

"We ask the parliament [...] to apply the amnesty to these young people. We are not talking about their complete release, but, if possible, (we ask) to mitigate their punishment," the "Sputnik-Georgia" quotes Khaso Khangoshvili, the elder of the Pankisi Gorge, as saying.

The elders believe that convicts' actions were unconscious; therefore, it was wrong to accuse them of aiding terrorists. The participants of the action intend to collect signatures in Pankisi villages to the petition demanding amnesty for the convicts, and then send them to the Georgian Parliament.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 9, 2021 at 01:18 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.