Georgia: PonteSud – Charissa Swanepoel
Police in Georgia have detained a second opposition leader within days as protests against the ruling Georgian Dream party and its perceived Russia-friendly stance continue in the South Caucasus country.
Lawyers for Nika Melia, one of the figureheads for Georgia’s pro-Western Coalition for Change, said his car was stopped by police on Thursday.
Soon after, he was bundled away by a large group of people in civilian clothing.
According to the interior ministry, Melia has been detained on charges of verbally insulting a law enforcement officer.
The arrest comes a week after that of Zurab Japaridze, another leader of the pro-Western, liberal coalition of parties that support European Union integration and want a restoration of democratic norms.
Japaridze, who heads the New Political Centre (Girchi) party, was detained on 22 May after refusing to appear before a parliamentary commission investigating alleged wrongdoings by the government of former president Mikheil Saakashvili.
Opposition politicians have declined to attend the commission hearings, saying they are politically motivated by Georgian Dream to damage the opposition, particularly Saakashvili’s United National Movement party.
Melia, of the Ahali party and former chairman of Saakashvili’s United National Movement party, was detained on the eve of a scheduled court hearing for failing to testify.
Georgian Dream has seen widespread condemnation by European leaders and international rights groups over its rough handling of protestors and perceived democratic backsliding.
