The Telavi District Court fined activist Malkhaz Machalikashvili 1,000 lari (approximately $380) for making a public, insulting comment directed at Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling "Georgian Dream" party. Machalikashvili was not present at the hearing.

This is not the first fine imposed on Machalikashvili for such an offense; the court had previously ordered him to pay 2,000 lari for publicly insulting Irakli Chimakadze, the deputy director of the Central Criminal Police Department.

Malkhaz Machalikashvili, an ethnic Kist Chechen, rose to public prominence following the death of his 19-year-old son, Temirlan. On December 26, 2017, in the village of Duisi in the Pankisi Gorge, officers from Georgia's State Security Service (SSS) conducted a special operation to detain several individuals linked to terrorist activities. During the operation, Temirlan sustained a gunshot wound to the head in his bedroom and subsequently died in the hospital on January 10, 2018.

According to a court order dated December 23, 2017, the raid aimed to detain Temirlan (along with four other men) and search his home on charges of supporting terrorists who had been killed or arrested during a special operation in Tbilisi in November 2017. Later, on December 26, 2017—shortly after the operation concluded—the SSS stated that Temirlan had been shot while attempting to detonate a grenade. However, the Machalikashvili family categorically denied the official account of events and has sought a further investigation. The European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC) and the Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on behalf of Temirlan’s parents, sister, and grandmother, who were at home during the raid.

"The family’s attempts to secure justice and uncover the truth about Temirlan’s death were met with legal and political indifference by the state. Turning to the European Court of Human Rights is the Machalikashvili family’s last resort to have their rights recognized and to obtain adequate legal redress," independent lawyers stated at the time.

In 2023, the ECHR examined the complaint and found a violation of the right to life regarding the quality of the investigation. The Court pointed to the investigation's lack of independence and effectiveness but stopped short of determining whether the use of force against Temirlan itself was unlawful, citing a lack of evidence.

Following his son's death, the elder Machalikashvili began regularly participating in protests and publicly criticizing the authorities.