Opposition Leader and Activists Detained in Georgia

The arrest of Resistance Leader Nika Melia Inflamed Tensions in an already-polarized Georgia (Wikimedia Commons).

Tbilisi police swept the headquarters of the United National Movement (ENM), a Georgian opposition movement, on February 23, arresting chairman Nika Melia and fellow party advocates. News of the raid and arrests sparked protests in the country’s capital on February 26.

Georgian authorities accused Melia of inciting violence during a series of anti-government protests in June 2019, a charge that Amnesty International dismisses as “politically motivated.”

Protesters of Melia’s arrest called for snap elections, citing that a recent parliamentary vote in favor of the Georgian Dream party was fraudulent. This vote, the first important direct vote by the Georgian Parliament since the implementation of electoral reforms in June 2020, allegedly stemmed from bribery and violence.

These protests caused Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia to vacate his seat, with the 45-year-old politician warning that the arrest of Melia and his followers would only increase polarization in the country. Former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili filled the post following Gakharia’s resignation on February 18. Garibashvili, however, has been denounced as a puppet of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country’s wealthiest businessman and co-founder of the Georgian Dream Party. Rival leaders claim that Ivanishvili is actively diminishing the country’s democratic tradition.

Western condemnation of Melia’s detention came quickly. David Kramer, a former advisor to President George W. Bush, wrote that this is a “make-or-break moment” for Georgia in its fight to maintain a robust democracy, further stating that the “only people smiling about this are sitting in the Kremlin.” The British Ambassador to Georgia, Mark Clayton, also tweeted his shock over the scene, saying that chaos is the ”last thing Georgia needs right now.” 

Major opposition parties within the Georgian Parliament have banded together in solidarity over the arrests, claiming that they will boycott their positions until Melia is released.