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Thousands protest detention of Georgia’s opposition leader in Tbilisi

Wednesday, 24 February 2021 1:24 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 24 February 2021 1:24 AM ]

Georgian opposition supporters hold a national flag during a rally in Tbilisi on February 23, 2021. (Photo by AFP)

Thousands of Georgian demonstrators have flocked to the streets in the country’s capital, Tbilisi, in an anti-government protest against the arrest of an opposition leader, further deepening a political crisis that broke out after disputed elections last year.

Supporters of Nika Melia gathered outside his party's headquarters and the nearby parliament building in Tbilisi on Tuesday, with riot police using tear gas to disperse them.

The protest came after a Tbilisi court last week ruled to place Melia, who is accused of organizing “mass violence” during anti-government protests in 2019, in pre-trial detention. Melia has dismissed the case as politically motivated.

The police stormed Melia’s United National Movement (UNM) headquarters and arrested him days after the prime minister resigned following a disagreement over whether to take the 41-year-old opposition leader into custody.

Former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia had rejected the court ruling, saying the apprehension of the opposition leader could lead to the further escalation of the political crisis and threaten the well-being of the country’s citizens.

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Live television footage showed Melia being dragged from his office to be placed in pre-trial detention early on Tuesday.

Blocking traffic along the city's main thoroughfare, the protesters denounced Melia's arrest and demanded early elections in the former Soviet republic.

People hit the streets after Georgia’s senior opposition figures called for a peaceful struggle to defend what they called Georgian democracy.

"We urgently need free and fair elections to get rid of a government that is destroying democracy," Ilia Togonidze, a 20-year-old student, was quoted as saying by AFP.

Media reports said scores of Melia's supporters were detained and that Mamuka Khazaradze, the leader of the opposition Lelo party, had called for "a peaceful, unwavering struggle to defend Georgian democracy.”

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Speaking to journalists on behalf of all opposition leaders, Khazaradze urged the liberation of political prisoners and said, “snap parliamentary elections are the only possible way out of the crisis.”

Georgia has been in turmoil since last year’s parliamentary elections which saw the ruling party scoring a narrow win. The opposition claims the vote was rigged.

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