Georgia: Opposition leader Nika Melia detained before facing court

On the evening of May 29, Nika Melia, a prominent leader of Georgia’s opposition party “Coalition for Change,” was detained by police in the capital, Tbilisi.

His arrest took place while he was inside his personal vehicle, accompanied by his driver and bodyguard, Caliber.Az reports, referring to Georgian media.

The information was confirmed by Melia’s lawyer, Giorgi Kondakhishvili, who stated that no official charges had been filed against his client at the time of the detention. Kondakhishvili described the incident as resembling a “kidnapping” and criticised the authorities for the manner in which Melia was taken into custody.

The lawyer linked the detention to a court hearing scheduled for May 30, where Melia is expected to face charges under the Georgian Criminal Code for allegedly refusing to cooperate with a temporary parliamentary investigative commission. If found guilty, he could face a one-year prison sentence.

Earlier this week, Melia had publicly declared that he would not pay bail or appear in court, rejecting the legitimacy of the charges and labelling the authorities pursuing the case as “illegitimate.”

By Tamilla Hasanova