Court accepts UNM leader Melia’s release after EU posts bail
UNM leader Nika Melia is likely to leave prison in the coming hours. Photo: Nika Melia’s Facebook page.
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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.
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.
????????By releasing #Melia, 1 more key milestone of the April 19 deal was reached. It is now crucial to focus on other points that require cooperation between the sides & contribute to more fair & transparent parliament in #Georgia. Remaining opposition is invited to join the deal.
— Viola von Cramon (@ViolavonCramon) May 10, 2021
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 said that the 40,000 GEL bail was unfair and refused to post it within 50 days of sentencing.
On February 5, 2021 the Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office warned him of the possibility of his bail conditions being reversed to detention.
He was arrested on February 23.
The arrest further complicated the tension between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition which began after the October 2020 parliamentary elections.
The political tension was finally resolved by the involvement of the European Council President Charles Michel.
European Endowment for Democracy, on behalf of the EU, posted Melia’s bail, while the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association handed the money to the Georgian government.
Posting bail before a court's decision is unusual for the Georgian judiciary.
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.’
The head of the Psychologists’ Development Research Centre Besik Bogveli has requested consent from the country’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office to post 40,000 GEL bail instead of the head of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia.
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 pepper spray in the room.
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Head of the United National Movement (UNM) Nika Melia, who was released from pretrial custody on May 10, met with the UNM party founder and ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili in Kyiv yesterday.
The European Georgia opposition party has made a final decision earlier today and stated that the party will not enter the state legislature, while three of its five mandates have already been taken up.
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The United National Movement (UNM) opposition party MPs attended their first session in the 10th convocation of the state legislature earlier today after a six-month political standoff.
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