Time in Tbilisi: May 15, 2024 06:23
Former opposition MP and the head of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia has been arrested by police earlier today for refusal to post bail shortly after the parliament approved Irakli Garibashvili prime minister and his cabinet late yesterday.
Melia was arrested in his office in the UNM headquarters in Tbilisi by special unit servicemen.
Police allegedly used tear gas in the room.
Due to the high public interest, the Ministry of Internal Affairs publishes video footage recorded inside and outside of the “United National Movement” headquarters https://t.co/Tt240L5R0g pic.twitter.com/wBJOozh15A
— MIA of Georgia (@MIAofGeorgia) February 23, 2021
The Ministry of Internal Affairs say that ‘proportional force’ has been used during the special operation and that UNM supporters opposed law enforcers.
Twenty individuals have been detained in the process along with Melia.
Video footage depicting a scene how the activist of the "United National Movement" throws a solid object to the direction of the police has been spread in social network as a result of which the photo equipment of certain citizen was damagedhttps://t.co/Tt240L5R0g pic.twitter.com/T7VA9nzQqW
— MIA of Georgia (@MIAofGeorgia) February 23, 2021
The opposition says that Melia’s arrest ‘is the end of the Georgian Dream government.’
They have announced a rally at the administration building of the government of Georgia at 15:00 today.
We have no right to lose the chance to protect freedom. Rallies are inevitable,” one of the leaders of European Georgia opposition party Giga Bokeria said.
The head of the Georgia Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze said that ‘modern bolsheviks like Melia, Bokeria, Saakashvili and others will not be able to harm the state.’
Responding to radicals, enforcement of law and the protection of the constitutional order is the only way for the democratic development of the country and ending the polarisation in Georgian politics,” Kobakhidze said.
He stated that Melia and the part of the opposition are ‘anti-state forces.’
The ruling Georgian Dream party says that everyone is equal before the law. Photo: Georgian Dream press office.
Melia is charged with incitement to violence during the June protests in Tbilisi back in 2019 which were sparked by the presence of Russian MPs in the Georgian parliament.
He was released on 30,000 GEL bail on June 27, 2020.
However, Melia violated the conditions of his bail by publicly removing his surveillance bracelet and 40,000 GEL was added to his bail in November 2020.
Melia has refused to pay the 40,000 GEL bail (within 50 days of sentencing) and on February 5, 2021 the Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office warned him of the possibility of his bail conditions being reversed to detention.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs say that police have warned Melia several times to leave the building. Photo: IPN.
On February 16 The Georgian Parliament suspended the MP status of Melia and allowed the country’s Prosecutor’s Office to request his arrest by the court.
On February 17 Tbilisi City Court ruled that Melia be remanded into custody for failure to post bail.
On February 18 Georgian PM Giorgi Gakharia resigned ‘because he failed to make an agreement with the ruling Georgian Georgian Dream party over the arrest of Melia.’
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the ruling Georgian Dream party have reported ongoing cyber attacks on their websites on Tuesday, with party chairperson Mamuka Mdinaradze telling local media the "massed" digital operation was aimed at "destabilising" the political situation in the country.
The US Embassy in Georgia has responded to the arrest of the United National Movement leader Nika Melia and a special operation which stormed the UNM office this morning and stated that 'Georgia has moved backward on its path toward becoming a stronger democracy in the Euro-Atlantic family of nations'.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has responded to the arrest of opposition leader Nika Melia earlier today and stated that ‘Melia is a criminal’ and that everyone in a democratic state is equal before the law.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria and Transparency International Georgia NGO have condemned the recent arrest of opposition leader Nika Melia and stated that the move will further complicate current political tension in the country.
Foreign diplomats and politicians have expressed concern over the special operation of Georgian police which stormed the United National Movement office this morning to arrest its chair Nika Melia.
Georgian opposition parties which won seats in the October 31, 2020 parliamentary elections and who demand repeat elections have postponed a rally on February 25 to ‘give time to the ruling Georgian Dream party’ to resume talks.
Former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, who resigned earlier today amid a disagreement with the ruling Georgian Dream party over the detention of opposition leader Nika Melia’s detention, said ‘confrontation and rivalry’ in Georgia endanger its future democratic and economic development.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has confirmed a disagreement with recently resigned PM Giorgi Gakharia over the arrest of opposition leader Nika Melia.
Opposition United National Movement party member Nika Melia, who is charged with incitement to violence during the recent Tbilisi protests, will have to wear an electronic bracelet to be monitored, as the Court of Appeals did not change the decision of Tbilisi City Court earlier today and accepted Melia’s release on bail.
Opposition parties and their supporters have blocked off central Rustaveli Avenue earlier today, following the recent arrest of the head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Nika Melia.Melia, who is charged with incitement to violence during the June protests in Tbilisi back in 2019, has been arrested for refusal to post bail.
Georgia's former prime minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and former foreign minister Mikheil Janelidze have reacted to the arrest of opposition leader Nika Melia on Tuesday and subsequent political tensions in the country by calling on the government to avoid confrontation, with Janelidze also making a call for repeat parliamentary elections.
Opposition politicians and civis activists who gathered in front of the parliament building in downtown Tbilisi following the detention of opposition United National Movement (UNM) chair Nika Melia plan to camp out in protest tonight.
New Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has addressed the nation saying that Georgia’ has no time to lose’. ‘Today is not the time for division – it is the time for unification’, he stated. Garibashvili who was confirmed prime minister yesterday said in his recent video address that amid the important challenges Georgia is facing nowadays, including the pandemic, ‘we must all unite’ regardless the political beliefs and views.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili met with Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili earlier today to discuss the necessity of dialogue in the current political crisis. President Zurabishvili has also discussed the recent developments with the ambassadors of United States, France and Germany, Kelly Degnan, Diego Colas and Hubert Knirsch, respectively.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Ali Asadov as well as Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pasinyan, have congratulated Irakli Garibashvili on his recent confirmation as Georgia’s new prime minister.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has stated that he is ready to mediate talks between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition to help them end the current political tension in the country.
Opposition parties have temporarily postponed joint protests until completion of negotiations with the government, which was initiated by the President of the European Council Charles Michel.
European Council President Charles Michel has mandated Christian Danielsson to lead a EU-backed mediation effort in Georgia, in follow up to the relaunch of the political dialogue between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition. The appointment comes shortly after Michel’s visit to Georgia earlier this month.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who met with the European Council President Charles Michel in Brussels yesterday, has told journalists that the Georgian ruling party and the opposition must come to an agreement amid the current political tension, but a solution ‘must not be found at the expense of state interests.’
Georgian law enforcers have detained one individual who allegedly shot at a banner of the United National Movement opposition party which depicts the party’s currently imprisoned leader Nika Melia.
Former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has stated that he has ‘no plans to leave the country or politics.’ He told journalists earlier today that he will announce his intentions in the coming days. Gakharia resigned on February 18, 2021, saying that the step was connected with the upcoming arrest of the opposition MP and the head of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says that they were ready to sign an agreement offered by the EU mediator in the talks with the opposition if several changes were introduced in it.
The leader of the United National Movement opposition party (UNM) Nika Melia was refused bail earlier today. The Judge of Tbilisi City Court Nino Chakhnashvili dismissed Melia from the courtroom because Melia called her ‘a slave’ (of the current government). The opposition parties which have been demanding Melia’s release for about two months have stated earlier today that the government ‘is not willing to ease the current political tension’ and that Melia ‘remains a political prisoner.’
A bail worth 40,000 GEL was posted in order to allow for the United National Movement (UNM) chair Nika Melia’s release from pretrial detention, the European Union Delegation to Georgia has announced earlier today.
Tbilisi City Court has accepted the release of the head of the United National Movement Nika Melia after the European Union posted Melia’s 40,000 GEL bail on May 8, following the EU-mediated agreement between Georgian political parties in April. After the completion of technical issues Melia will leave Rustavi prison where he has been in pretrial custody since February 23, 2021.
The Strategic Communications Service of the Government of Georgia on Tuesday dismissed allegations by the Chair of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia about a leak of personal information of a Georgian combatant from the archives of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia.
Gia Tsagareishvili, an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday hit back at the Chair of the United National Movement opposition party, Nika Melia, for the latter’s critical comments on GD on Thursday that accused the party of “collaborationism with the enemy” and called ruling party representatives “cannons” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday ruled legitimate the arrest and detention of opposition leader Nika Melia for incitement to violence during protests in Tbilisi back in June 2019.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday said today’s ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, which confirming the legitimacy of the 2019 arrest and detention of opposition leader Nika Melia, was “yet another victory” for the reputation of the country’s judicial system.