Georgian Opposition Leader Released from Detention / Article

A Georgian court on Monday ordered the release of imprisoned opposition leader Nick Meliy on bail money paid by the European Union (EU) over the weekend to pave the way for an end to the protracted political crisis in the Caucasus country.

Georgia has been in a political crisis since the October parliamentary elections, which were condemned by the opposition as fake. Opposition parties refused to join the new parliament, thus undermining the legitimacy of the ruling Georgia Dream government, and staged mass protests calling for new elections.

The crisis escalated in February when police raided the headquarters of the United National Movement (ENM) and arrested party leader Melia.

In April, the ruling party and the opposition signed an EU-backed end to the crisis, but the ENM said it would join when Melia was released from custody.

To secure Melia’s release from pre-trial detention, the EU paid a bail of 40,000 Georgian lars (€ 9,600) on Saturday.

CONTEXT:

In Georgia, the uncompromising political struggle between the ruling party “Dream of Georgia” and opposition forces demanding new elections has been going on for months.

Following the arrest of Melia, the leader of the opposition party Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gahari resigned. He was replaced by a representative of the Georgian Dream party Iraklijs Garibashvili, who promised not to succumb to pressure from the opposition and rejected the possibility of holding new parliamentary elections.

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