Escalating Crackdown: Georgia Arrests Second Opposition Leader this month

Nika Melia of Coalition for Change addresses crowd at October 28 rally; Photo: Guram Muradov/Civil.ge

Georgian authorities have arrested Nika Melia, a senior leader of the opposition Coalition for Change, in what critics are calling a politically motivated escalation by the ruling Georgian Dream party. The arrest comes just one day before a court-imposed bail deadline and less than a week after the detention of another opposition figure, Zurab Japaridze.

According to his lawyer, Giorgi Kondakhashvili, Melia was stopped by police in the Lisi Lake area, where he was headed to record a television program. “He was kidnapped. They acted aggressively and without explanation,” Kondakhashvili said, noting that police forced Melia into a car and took him to the Dighomi pretrial detention facility.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed that Melia was charged under Article 173 of the Administrative Offenses Code for allegedly insulting police officers. However, the arrest is widely seen as linked to a separate criminal case under Article 349, which involves Melia’s refusal to testify before a parliamentary commission investigating alleged misconduct during the previous United National Movement government.

Melia had publicly refused to attend the May 30 court hearing related to that case. His lawyer argued that the prosecution manipulated the timing by postponing the hearing until after the midnight deadline for posting bail. “This allowed the prosecution to request his detention without appearing to violate procedure,” Kondakhashvili said.

In a dramatic courtroom scene on Friday, Melia was removed from the courtroom after throwing water at the judge. He was subsequently ordered into pretrial detention, though the duration remains unspecified.

Opposition leaders and international observers have condemned the arrest. “There are no legal grounds. The bail deadline had not passed, and no changes to the restraint order had been issued,” said Coalition for Change leader Nika Gvaramia.

U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson issued a scathing statement, accusing the Georgian government of attempting to eliminate political opposition: “The anti-American Georgian Dream regime has just arrested key opposition leader Nika Melia on the same false pretense as the previous attack on opposition. It is clear that the total banning of opposition is underway so as to sell the country to China.”

Opposition parties released a joint statement calling the arrest “a manifestation of fear within the Russian regime,” in reference to what they describe as Georgian Dream’s growing alignment with Moscow.

The arrest is the latest flashpoint in a broader political crisis. Georgian Dream’s disputed victory in the 2024 parliamentary elections and its decision to freeze EU accession talks until 2028 have sparked months of mass protests, met with forceful crackdowns by security forces.

Once regarded as a post-Soviet democratic success story, Georgia now faces mounting allegations of authoritarianism and geopolitical backsliding. Georgian Dream, led by billionaire and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, insists it remains committed to EU membership—just not at the expense of what it calls “traditional values” or strained relations with neighboring Russia.

Separately, on Friday, a Tbilisi court sentenced a 19-year-old student to 12 days in jail for insulting a Georgian Dream lawmaker in a café, further fueling concerns over political repression.

As protests continue and legal battles intensify, the arrests of Melia and other opposition leaders raise urgent questions about Georgia’s democratic trajectory—and its future place in the international community.