Opposition leader Nika Melia detained ahead of court hearing

Nika Melia, a prominent opposition leader from the Akhali party and the Coalition for Change, has been detained under unclear circumstances, according to statements from his party and legal representatives.

Melia was reportedly apprehended near Lisi Lake while en route to record a podcast titled “Between Two Fires.” His party is calling the incident a “kidnapping,” claiming that plainclothes officers forcibly stopped his vehicle, confiscated mobile phones, removed SIM cards, and transported Melia in an unmarked car.

“Patrol police stopped the car. He was only with his security team. Officers in civilian clothes took phones, removed SIM cards, threw them away, and took Melia,” a spokesperson from the party’s press office told journalists.

Later updates confirmed that Melia was taken to the detention facility in Digomi.

His lawyer, Giorgi Kondakhishvili, called the detention “completely incomprehensible,” stating that police first ordered Melia to move his vehicle and then “used force to detain him.”

Melia had a court hearing scheduled for today, which has now been postponed until May 30. Prosecutors are expected to seek his pretrial detention for failing to pay bail related to his refusal to appear before the parliamentary investigative commission led by the ruling Georgian Dream party.

“There is speculation that he may have been detained on administrative grounds,” Kondakhishvili said. “Perhaps the government feared he would not show up in court tomorrow, though he had publicly stated he wasn’t going because of the farcical nature of the proceedings.”

Earlier today, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, speaking from Hungary, commented on cases involving non-compliance with parliamentary commissions:
“If you don’t pay bail, you’ll face imprisonment. If you violate the law by not appearing before an investigative commission, you’ll face consequences,” he stated.