The opposition United National Movement (UNM) party Chair, Nika Melia, believes it would be impossible for the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) to catch him.

“It is not because I am cool, and the opposition is cool. There is simply no basis for that. All GD MPs should understand to avoid falling into an awkward situation. The ruling team leaders repeatedly said that I would pay the bail, but I did not. Whose prediction came true, mine or your political leaders? Trust the lessons learned and trust me, not your political leaders,” Melia said.

Members of the opposition forces gathered to discuss Nika Melia’s case at the Labour Party office on Monday.

The opposition European Georgia party former member Gigi Ugulava thinks that imposing bail on Melia is unlawful, and the Georgian society would resist it.

“We will not pay tribute to Gavrilov (Russian politician). If the government uses force, it will have to apprehend too many people to satisfy its reckless wish. The authorities should know they will face a proportional and full resistance. If special forces hit us, we will hit them back as the government went beyond the law,” Ugulava said.

European Georgia party leader Giga Bokeria stressed that the government must stop political persecution.

“Nika Melia’s arrest will intensify the anger. Protests will be inevitable,” Bokeria noted.

Davit Bakradze, formerly from the European Georgia party, added that Melia signals the public about the circumstances in state law and institutions in the country.

“Supporting Nika Melia means avoiding law-based disorder in this country,” Bakradze stated.

UNM Chair Nika Melia was charged with incitement to violence during the June protests in the Georgian capital Tbilisi in 2019 and was released on GEL 30,000 bail. Melia violated the conditions of bail later by removing his surveillance bracelet. The court added GEL 40,000 to his bail amount for disobedience in November 2020. Melia did not pay.

Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office (POG) warned Melia of replacing the bail with custody. POG has already asked the Georgian parliament to suspend his MP status to request his arrest from the court.