Status boundary: The ECHR found a procedural violation of the right to life because the investigation was ineffective. It found no substantive violation, explaining that the evidence did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that Georgia was responsible for the death. No officer was convicted.
Temirlan Machalikashvili
Temirlan Machalikashvili lived with his family in Duisi, a village in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge. Judicial and press sources vary between 18 and 19 when describing his age; he was born in 1998 and died in January 2018.
The arrest operation arose from an investigation into suspected material support for a group connected to Akhmed Chatayev and the so-called Islamic State. A Tbilisi court authorized Machalikashvili's arrest and a search of the family home on December 23, 2017. Suspicion did not amount to a conviction, and he never stood trial.
The pre-dawn operation
Between about 3:45 and 4:00 a.m. on December 26, a 32-member Special Assignment Unit of the State Security Service entered the house. Two officers went into Machalikashvili's bedroom. One shot him in the head.
The government version said he ignored an order to show his hands and attempted to detonate a hand grenade. His family challenged that account and said he was asleep. The ECHR did not resolve that factual conflict in the family's favor; it later held that the material was insufficient to establish substantive state responsibility beyond reasonable doubt.
Machalikashvili received first aid, was transferred through hospitals in Akhmeta and Telavi, and underwent surgery. He was moved to Tbilisi on December 28 and died there on January 10, 2018.
The grenade and physical evidence
Investigators reported finding a grenade in the bedroom and later said Machalikashvili's DNA profile was present on it. The family and their representatives questioned the collection and handling of evidence. The grenade itself was destroyed during a functionality test in January 2018.
The ECHR did not decide that the grenade had been planted. It assessed the process: control of the scene by the security structure involved in the operation, treatment of possible inconsistencies, handling of physical evidence and lack of sufficient institutional independence.
The domestic investigation
Georgia opened an inquiry into possible abuse of official power involving violence. The officer who fired the shot was treated as a witness rather than a suspect. Prosecutors concluded that he acted in legitimate self-defense and closed the investigation in January 2020 without charges.
Georgia's Public Defender and civil-society groups called for a transparent, objective and timely investigation. The family's repeated request for victim status was denied, limiting its participation and ability to challenge investigative decisions.
The European Court judgment
On January 19, 2023, the European Court of Human Rights delivered judgment in Machalikashvili and Others v. Georgia, application no. 32245/19. The Court unanimously found a violation of the procedural limb of Article 2 because the authorities had not carried out an effective and thorough investigation.
The Court criticized omissions involving the planning and control of the operation and the family's limited involvement. Georgia was ordered to pay the applicants jointly €10,000 in non-pecuniary damages and €15,000 for costs and expenses.
What the Court did not find
By six votes to one, the Court found no substantive violation of Article 2. That result did not endorse every detail of the government's account. It meant the evidence before the Court was insufficient to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that Machalikashvili died in circumstances engaging Georgia's substantive responsibility.
The Court also rejected the family's Article 3 complaint as manifestly ill-founded and found no need to separately examine Article 13. A flawed investigation was proved; an unlawful killing by the State was not proved to the Court's demanding standard.
After the judgment
The judgment became final on May 22, 2023. Georgian civil-society groups urged authorities to reopen the death investigation. Later reporting said the Special Investigation Service declined to begin a new inquiry.
No later individual prosecution or conviction for causing Machalikashvili's death was located through September 2026. The case remains unsolved in criminal-accountability terms even though the international court conclusively established investigative failure.
Why the archive calls the case unsolved
A named state officer fired the shot, but identity of the shooter is not the same as a criminal finding. Prosecutors closed the case as self-defense; the ECHR did not find the shooting itself unlawful beyond reasonable doubt; and no person was convicted.
The label also avoids the opposite error: treating the absence of a homicide conviction as proof that the inquiry met human-rights standards. The final European judgment says it did not.
Case timeline
- 23 December 2017 — Tbilisi City Court authorizes the arrest and search.
- 26 December 2017 — A security-service unit enters the Duisi home before dawn; an officer shoots Machalikashvili.
- 10 January 2018 — Machalikashvili dies in hospital.
- January 2020 — Prosecutors close the investigation without charges, accepting the self-defense account.
- 19 January 2023 — The ECHR finds a procedural Article 2 violation but no substantive Article 2 violation.
- 22 May 2023 — The judgment becomes final.
- 2024 — Georgian reporting says a renewed investigation was rejected.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Temirlan Machalikashvili?
Temirlan Machalikashvili was a young resident of Duisi in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge. A State Security Service officer shot him during an arrest operation on December 26, 2017; he died on January 10, 2018.
What did Georgian authorities say happened?
The official account said Machalikashvili failed to show his hands and tried to detonate a grenade. His family disputed that account.
Did the European Court decide that the shooting was unlawful?
No. The Court found insufficient evidence to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that the death engaged Georgia's substantive responsibility under Article 2.
What violation did the European Court find?
The Court unanimously found a procedural violation of Article 2 because the domestic investigation was not effective and thorough.
Was anyone convicted for the shooting?
No individual criminal conviction for causing Machalikashvili's death was located. Georgian prosecutors closed the investigation in January 2020.
What is the case's current status?
The ECHR judgment became final on May 22, 2023. Later Georgian reporting said a renewed domestic investigation was rejected, leaving individual criminal responsibility unresolved.
Sources and source-quality review
- European Court of Human Rights — Machalikashvili and Others v. Georgia19 January 2023; final 22 May 2023 · full judgment, facts, findings and damages.
- European Court of Human Rights — Registrar's press release19 January 2023 · official summary of the majority findings.
- Legislative Herald of Georgia — official publication of the judgment14 November 2023 · Georgian legal publication of application no. 32245/19.
- Civil Georgia — ECtHR rules on Machalikashvili case19 January 2023 · independent reporting on the judgment and competing accounts.
- U.S. Department of State — Georgia human-rights report excerpt2018 · death, public-defender concerns and criticism of the inquiry.
- Civil Georgia — criticism after rejection of renewed investigation2024 · post-judgment status.
Editorial review: The ECHR materials control the legal conclusions; Georgia's legal gazette confirms publication; Civil Georgia and the U.S. government report provide chronology and domestic context. Competing accounts remain attributed.