UNM head Melia: no national reconciliation possible until Saakashvili is free

Head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Nika Melia says that no national reconciliation is possible until former president Mikheil Saakashvili is released from prison.  

He has called on the public to join the opposition rally at 18:00 on Rustaveli Avenue on December 21, on Saakashvili’s birthday, to demand the release of the third president.  

The idea of national reconciliation was pushed forward by Saakashvili himself and several other opposition leaders which means making peace between the current and former state leaderships of the country, as well as the release of Saakashvili from prison.  

He was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 after eight years in political exile.  

Saakashvili, who is now a citizen of Ukraine, claims that he returned to help the opposition remove the Georgian Dream government from power.  

He was convicted in Georgia in absentia in 2018 for abuse of power and was sentenced to six years in prison.  

Saakashvili has also been charged with five other offenses.