Pankisi Valley

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Chechnya

Pankisi Imam accused of ‘spying’ on locals for Chechnya

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•1 min read

An Imam appointed to a mosque in eastern Georgia’s Pankisi Valley has been accused of spying on local residents for the Chechen Government. On 21 March, Khasan Khalitov, a Chechen opposition blogger based in Turkey, claimed that Tahir Duishvili had been appointed directly by the Chechen Muftiate. The Muftiate is the traditional representative body of local Muslims in Chechnya. ‘[Chechen Head Ramzan] Kadyrov’s Muftiate invited Tahir Duishvili to become an imam in one of the Mosques in Pankisi

Residents of Pankisi’s Duisi village protest against the authorities’ refusal to allow Leila Kavtarova into the country. Image via Interpressnews.

Georgia

Pankisi native barred from entering Georgia

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•2 min read

Leila Kavtarova, a Russian–French native of the Pankisi Valley, has been barred from entering Georgia and held at the Kutaisi Airport since Monday. Kavtarova, 23, flew into Georgia from France with her child. Upon arrival in Kutaisi, Kavtarova and her child were barred from entering the country by the Georgian border police. ‘They took my passports […] I asked why they wouldn’t let me in, but they didn’t answer. I was told that the flight is on 18 [March] and I can fly back […] they don’t

European Court of Human Rights

Georgia violated Pankisi teen Machalikashvili’s right to life, court finds

by Robin Fabbro

•2 min read

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Georgian State Security Services (SSG) violated the right to life of 19-year-old Temirlan Machalikashvili, who was shot dead in a raid on his home in the Pankisi Valley in December 2017. In their ruling on Thursday, the court found insufficient evidence to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that Machalikashvili was unlawfully killed, finding the state’s explanation that he was reaching for a hand grenade when shot ‘plausible’. However, the

The flag of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria spray-painted on a bus stop. Photo: Sulkhan Bordzikashvili.

Feature Stories

Fighting over a flag in the Pankisi Valley

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•4 min read

A recent controversy surrounding graffiti of an Ichkerian flag in the Pankisi Valley underlines the enduring tensions between the local community and the Georgian authorities — especially after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s not every day that graffiti warrants a 30-minute special reportage on Rustavi 2 a major and government-leaning television channel in Georgia. The special, which aired on 7 May, concerns an apparent panic that began in March 2022. That month, a group of teens sprayp

Chechnya

Khangoshvili murder trial kicks off in Berlin

by Silvia Stöber

•2 min read

Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was gunned down in a park in Berlin in August 2019; a man German authorities say is Vadim Krasikov went on trial for the killing on Wednesday. The crime scene is located only a few hundred metres from the court building where the trial of Russian citizen Vadim Krasikov has now begun. On 23 August 2019, he is said to have shot Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian from the Pankisi Valley. It was not just a simple murder. The Federal Prosecutor General (Generalbundesanwalt)

Zelimkhan Khangoshvili. Photo via Vayfond, Facebook

Chechnya

German Chief Prosecutor calls Georgian government ‘pro-Russian’

by OC Media

•4 min read

Germany’s Public Prosecutor General has stirred controversy in Georgia by referring to the Georgian government as ‘pro-Russian’ in an indictment of a Russian citizen over the killing of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili. In an 18 June press release, Federal Public Prosecutor General Peter Frank said they had pressed charges against a Russian citizen named Vadim K over the murder of Khangoshvili, a Georgian national, in Berlin last year. Khangoshvili, who participated in hostilities against the Russian

Environment

One man shot dead and three more injured in Georgia’s Pankisi Valley

by OC Media

•2 min read

One man has been shot dead and three more hospitalised after a conflict broke out between two families in Georgia’s Pankisi Valley. The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon in the village of Sakobiano after members of the Mutoshvili and Kavtarashvili families gathered in the village centre earlier that day. Local environmental activist Luisa Mutoshvili, who said the deceased, Malkhaz Mutoshvili, was her uncle, told Georgian news agency IPN that the conflict was not personal. ‘This