Opposition representatives respond to Nika Melia’s possible arrest
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Monday, February 15
On February 14, representatives of several opposition parties responded individually to UNM leader Nika Melia's possible arrest, describing it as ‘revenge of Russia and the failure of the Georgian Dream’.
On the other hand, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia Vakhtang Gomelauri said that everyone is equal before Law and will be treated equally.
Gigi Ugulava, one of the leaders of European Georgia, wrote on Facebook that “Nika Melia's bail is actually a tribute to Gavrilov”. Roman Gotsiridze, one of the leaders of the United National Movement, also sees Russia's traces in this case, and notes that ‘he is Gavrilov's prisoner.’
Sergo Chikhladze, one of the leaders of Strategy Aghmashenebeli, called the possible arrest of the MP ‘a great injustice’ and a ‘big mistake of the Georgian Dream’.
The representatives of the opposition parties plan to meet on February 15 and discuss the ongoing events together. According to some of the news agencies, the Parliamentary Bureau will discuss the issue of lifting the parliamentary immunity for Nika Melia today, on February 15. The vote is planned to take place at the plenary session on February 16.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia appealed to the Parliament of Georgia on February 12 to obtain the prior consent to detain Nika Melia. The prosecutor's office needs such consent because although Melia requested to terminate his mandate, he still remains to be an MP.
The deadline for Nika Melia to pay bail expired on February 12. He did not pay the bail, GEL40,000, within the time limit set by the court, which initially was due to December 24, 2020, and did not secure the bail with any property. The prosecution gave him an extra week on February 5th.
Nika Melia is accused of attempting to break into the parliament building on June 20-21, 2019 during an anti-occupation protest rally, under the article of leadership of gang violence and participation in it.
According to the decision of June 27, 2019, Melia was sentenced to GEL30,000 bail and electronic monitoring as a measure of restraint. On November 1, 2020, at a protest rally in front of the parliament, Melia publicly removed his electronic monitoring bracelet.
After that, the Prosecutor's Office appealed to the Court to increase the bail to GEL100,000. According to the ruling of the Tbilisi City Court of November 3, 2020, the bail previously imposed on Nika Melia was increased to GEL40,000 and he was given 50 days to pay the bail. Melia was also banned from crossing the state border without the prior notice and consent of the prosecution.
