Melia convicted in case of failure to appear before Georgian parliamentary commission
A court in Tbilisi sentenced opposition politician Nika Melia to eight months in prison, finding him guilty of disobeying the parliamentary investigative commission.
As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, on April 29, the Tbilisi City Court set bail of 50 thousand lari (about 18.3 thousand dollars) as a preventive measure for the leader of the opposition "Coalition for Change" Nika Melia in the case of failure to appear at a meeting of the parliamentary investigative commission. However, Melia said that he refuses to post bail, since he considers both the commission and the parliament, which convened after the disputed elections in the fall of 2024, to be illegitimate. On May 30, the court changed the preventive measure to arrest.
Article 349 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (Failure to comply with the requirement of the temporary investigative commission of parliament), under which the case is being investigated, provides for a fine or up to a year of imprisonment.
On June 27, the Tbilisi City Court found Nika Melia guilty of failing to comply with the demands of the temporary investigative commission of parliament. Judge Nino Galustashvili sentenced the oppositionist to eight months in prison and banned him from holding office for two years, Interpressnews reports.
Nika Melia himself was not present when the verdict was announced, as he was deprived of the right to attend the hearings due to the incident with Judge Shvangiradze, in whose direction Melia splashed water. He also did not exercise his right to make the last statement, Georgia Online reports.
On May 30, at a hearing to change the measure of restraint, Melia told the court that he had been detained and deprived of the opportunity to post bail. Judge Irakli Shvangiradze refused to consider the circumstances of the detention, explaining that he had not been assigned this case. In response, Melia splashed water in the direction of the judge and called him a "slave." Following this, a new criminal case was opened against Melia - for contempt of court.
On June 24, the court also found Giorgi Vashadze, the leader of the "Strategy Agmashenebeli" party, guilty. Judge Nino Galustashvili sentenced him to 7 months in prison and disqualified him from holding office for 2 years. Vashadze became the fourth opposition figure to be convicted for failing to appear before a parliamentary commission.
In February, a parliamentary commission began work in Georgia to study the "crimes of the regime" Mikheil Saakashvili in 2003-2012. The commission intends to prove that the "Five-Day War" in 2008 was initiated by the third president of Georgia. The case of failure to appear at parliamentary commission meetings has become an episode of repression against politicians who are undesirable to the authorities, opposition representatives said.
The criminal prosecution of opposition politicians is taking place against the backdrop of protests that have been taking place in Tbilisi for more than six months: since November 28, 2024, activists have been holding daily protests outside the Georgian parliament and blocking Rustaveli Avenue. They are demanding the release of arrested supporters of European integration and the appointment of new parliamentary elections.
The "Caucasian Knot" has collected materials about the parliamentary elections and the protests that followed on the page "Elections in Georgia-2024".
Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/412625