FLASH
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Georgian police have arrested opposition leader Nika Melia from the Coalition for Change. According to Georgia's interior ministry, Melia has been detained on charges of verbally insulting a law enforcement officer and is expected to appear in court.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has strengthened its grip on power in recent years, while protesters and critics accuse the government of pulling the country away from its pro-Western path and returning it to Moscow's orbit.
"Melia's arrest is a manifestation of fear among the Russian regime," opposition groups said in a joint statement on Friday, referring to the Georgian Dream party.
Opposition groups do not accept the legitimacy of the Georgian Dream government, as they are convinced that the 2024 parliamentary elections were rigged.
Melia’s arrest came a day before he was due to appear in court on other charges. These included his refusal to testify before a parliamentary commission, led by the Georgian Dream party, investigating alleged crimes under the previous government. In that case, the Tbilisi City Court had ordered Melia to pay bail by May 30.
According to his lawyer, Georgy Kondakhashvili, the charges were fabricated to force the opposition leader to the hearing that he boycotted.
"I don't know what his detention was related to. In fact, he was kidnapped. They acted aggressively and without explanation," Kondakhashvili said in an interview with local media on Thursday.
This is the second arrest of a high-profile opposition figure in just over a week.
On May 22, a Georgian court remanded Zurab Japaridze — another leading member of the Coalition for Change — in custody for an indefinite period. Japaridze had refused to appear before the same parliamentary inquiry into alleged abuses under the government of Mikheil Saakashvili, a pro-Western administration that was in power from 2004 to 2013.
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