Tbilisi City Court partially satisfied the prosecution’s motion at its November 3 hearing and increased the bail for Nika Melia of the United National Movement by GEL 40,000, up to GEL 70,000. Melia was also banned from leaving the country without receiving a police permit.
The Prosecutor’s Office applied to the court for stricter punishment after Melia took off a monitoring bracelet, a satellite device that defendants under house arrest are required to wear, during a rally on November 1 while protesting the parliamentary election results outside the Parliament building.
Nika Melia’s defense lawyer, Giorgi Kondakhishvili told reporters that the prosecution’s motion “is beyond any logic and legal substantiation.”
Nika Melia has to pay bail within 50 days. His defense lawyer noted that Melia does not plan to pay it. The latter also told reporters that he will no longer wear a bracelet.
The Parliament of Georgia lifted the immunity from MP Melia at its plenary session in June 2019. The decision followed the Prosecutors Office’s request, charging the MP for inciting and heading mass violence on the night of June 20-21, 2019 outside the Parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue. On June 27, Tbilisi City Court demanded Melia to post a GEL 30,000 bail, rejecting the prosecution motion for pre-trial detention. He also had to surrender his passport pending investigation.
On July 2, 2019, the Court of Appeals upheld the ruling of a lower court imposing bail on Melia and ordered the Prosecutor’s Office to monitor his movement through a special bracelet.
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