Georgian citizen Malkhaz Paksashvili was arrested on charges of joining the terrorist organization “Islamic State” and aiding in terrorist activities, based on the judge’s ruling.
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Malkhaz Paksashvili is from the Pankisi Valley. According to locals, he has been living in the village of Tsinubani with his family for the last few years.
According to the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG), Paksashvili left Georgia in 2013 and joined the “Islamic State” in Syria. In the years 2013-2015, he was enrolled in the group known as “Military Emirs”, an extremist ring led by brothers Tsezar and Tsiskara Tokhosashvili, and took an active part in the attacks and military operations carried out by the said terrorist organization.
“Detainee had close ties with the top military brass of “Islamic state” and was a so-called “deputy” in one of the organization’s subgroups,” reports the head of SSSG’s counter-terrorism division, Bacho Mgeladze.
The case is being investigated under Article 328 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which stands for joining a terrorist organization of a foreign country and aiding in terrorist activity. The crime is punishable by 10 to 17 years in prison.
Wanted for terrorism, Tsezar Tokhosashvili, a.k.a Al-Bara Shishan, was detained in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 12 November 2019, and extradited to Georgia where he is serving his sentence. His brother, Tsiskara Tokhosashvili (or Emir Isa), was detained by SSSG’s counter-terrorism operatives at Tbilisi International Airport in the December of last year. Brothers Tokhosashvili are from the village Omani (Pankisi Valley) in Akhmeta Municipality. They went to Syria in 2014-2015.
