Imprisoned opposition leader Melia ready to post bail if amnesty bill for June protests rejected
United National Movement head Nika Melia previously said that he would not post ‘unfair bail.’ Photo: Nika Melia’s Facebook page.
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Currently imprisoned head of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia is ready to post bail and leave prison if parliament will not register the amnesty bill for convictions stemming from the June 2019 protests in Tbilisi, according to the recent EU-mediated agreement between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition.
Melia was arrested on February 23, 2021 for his refusal to pay bail for his charges in the case of the June protests which were sparked by the presence of Russian MPs in the Georgian state legislature.
Melia’s arrest further stoked tension between the government and the opposition which began after the 2020 parliamentary elections.
After long political tension the parties came to an agreement earlier this month through signing an agreement proposed by the European Council President Charles Michel.
The majority of Georgian opposition parties have entered parlaiment earlier today after long protests. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
The agreement says that ‘the signatories commit to address, within one week of signing this agreement, the two cases of perceived politicized justice (Melia’s case and Giorgi Rurua’s case), either by an amnesty and/or by taking such steps as to produce an equivalent outcome. In particular, within one week of signature of the agreement, a party represented in parliament shall initiate an amnesty law for all violations and convictions stemming from the 19-21 June 2019 protests.’
Melia says that the opposition must not accept the amnesty ‘because it will leave law enforcers who dispersed the rally and those who gave orders for the shameful dispersal unpunished.’
He urged the opposition to act unanimously and stand against the amnesty bill.
The opposition parties have already entered parliament according to the EU-mediated agreement.
Several opposition leaders stated yesterday that the amnesty bill is unlikely to be registered and added that Michel may have to introduce changes in the agreement following Melia’s statement.
The opposition MPs who have been demanding repeat parliamentary elections since November 2020 will take up their mandates today.
Following the step President Salome Zurabishvili will pardon Rurua.
Civil activists have gathered in front of the parliament building in Tbilisi to protest the amnesty bill that is scheduled to be submitted next week.
US Ambassador Kelly Degnan says that it is completely up to the United National Movement opposition party leader Nika Melia whether or not he leaves prison.
The US Department of State has urged the remaining opposition parties and individual MPs to sign the EU-mediated agreement to resolve the political tension in Georgia which began after the October 2020 parliamentary elections.
Opposition parties which have signed the EU-mediated agreement with the ruling Georgian Dream party will enter the state legislature on April 27 to submit an amnesty bill. Six Georgian political parties and several individual MPs signed the proposal by the European Council President Charles Michel on April 19 to solve the political tension in Georgia which began after the 2020 parliamentary elections.
Opposition MPs who have signed the EU-mediated agreement with the ruling Georgian Dream party earlier this month have entered parliament earlier today.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has pardoned the co-founder of the opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV channel Giorgi Rurua shortly after opposition MPs took up their mandates earlier today, in line with the EU-mediated agreement.
The European Union Delegation to Georgia ‘warmly welcomes’ the decisions taken by Georgia’s political leaders in line with the European Council President Charles Michel's proposal aimed to solve the political tension in Georgia. It meanwhile calls on all other elected MPs ‘to join the agreement and contribute to its implementation, in the interest of Georgia, its citizens, EU-Georgia relations and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic future’.
Ambassadors of the European Union and the United States Carl Hartzell and Kelly Degnan have sent a joint letter to the civil activists injured during June 20, 2019. Hartzell and Degnan say that as Georgia’s partners, they have worked ‘to help end an extended political crisis emanating from the parliamentary elections 2020.
The Parliament of Georgia has started discussions of an amnesty bill concerning the June 2019 protests. The bill was initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream party and was discussed during the first hearing last week.
Before the first hearing of the bill, the ruling Georgian Dream party and opposition were unable to come to an agreement on the amnesty bill, initiated according to the EU-mediated agreement signed by the ruling party and the majority of political parties back in April 2021.