Lithuanian Ambassador to Georgia Andrius Kalindra has met with officials from opposition parties at the office of the United National Movement (UNM) office earlier today.
Before entering the office he said that ‘we are working with all political parties to achieve success towards Euro-Atlantic integration’.
I am here to show solidarity with the current events and we are clearly concerned about the future that disproportionate measures may lead to", he said.
One of the leaders from the UNM Salome Samadashvili says that Kalindra is going to stay at the office until the political crisis is defused.
Melia made a statement on behalf of the opposition parties, and called on the authorities to sit down at the negotiating table and demanded early parliamentary elections.
Melia is charged with incitement to violence during the June protests in Tbilisi back in 2019 which were sparked by the presence of Russian MPs in the Georgian parliament.
He was released on 30,000 GEL bail on June 27, 2020. However, Melia violated the conditions of his bail by publicly removing his surveillance bracelet and 40,000 GEL was added to his bail in November 2020.
The UNM chair has refused to pay the 40,000 GEL bail (within 50 days of sentencing) and on February 5, 2021 the Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office warned him of the possibility of his bail conditions being reversed to detention.
Yesterday Tbilisi City Court ruled that Melia be remanded into custody for failure to post bail, per the request of the country’s Prosecutor’s Office.
This morning Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announced his resignation, saying that the step is connected with the upcoming arrest of Melia.