Malkhaz Paksashvili’s friend: This is an absurd accusation fabricated by the State Security Service, it is impossible that Paksashvili had any connection with the terrorist organization

According to Levan Duishvili, a friend of Malkhaz Paksashvili, the leader of one of the groups of the terrorist organization Islamic State, it is impossible that Paksashvili had any connection with the terrorist organization.

As Duishvili told journalists, Malkhaz Paksashvili was not in Syria, but in Turkey, and until now he had not been noticed in illegal actions.

"Malkhaz Paksashvili is my friend, he was very active in the village and a good person for the valley. He tried his best to do something good for his village. Therefore, there was no terrorist activity related to him. He is said to be accused of terrorist activities carried out in 2015. This is an absurd accusation fabricated by the State Security Service. I confirm this. He was in Turkey, as far as I know, and I am sure that he was in Turkey and he had no contact with Syria.

I have not noticed him having contact with anyone or anything or doing anything that was against the law”, he said.

Tbilisi City Court ordered pre-trial detention for Malkhaz Paksashvili, a citizen of Georgia and the leader of one of the groups of the terrorist organization Islamic State.

As the prosecutor Maia Silagadze told journalists after the session, the court took into account the position of the prosecution that there was a reason to apply pre-trial detention against the accused, since there was a danger of hiding, committing a new crime and also hindering the investigation.

According to her, the accused Malkhaz Paksashvili pleads not guilty.

The session was held in closed mode, since the case is classified.

As the prosecutor explained, the accused does not have a lawyer, as he refused it himself.

As a result of a special operation carried out by the Counter-Terrorism Center of the State Security Service, on the basis of a court ruling, a leader of one of the groups of the terrorist organization Islamic State, Georgian citizen Malkhaz Paksashvili was arrested.

According to the State Security Service, as a result of the joint measures of the Counter-Terrorism Center, the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was established that the mentioned person left Georgia in 2013, went to Syria and joined the Islamic State.

"In 2013-2015, he was enrolled in the so-called "Military Emirs", a group of brothers Cesar and Tsiskara Tokhosashvili, and took an active part in the attacks and military operations carried out by the said terrorist organization. The detainee had close ties with the high-ranking military commanders of the Islamic State and held the position of the "naib” in one of the groups of the said terrorist organization”, reads the statement released by the State Secuirty Service.