Nika Melia Sentenced to Eight Months for Defying Tsulukiani Commission
Tbilisi City Court Judge Nino Galustashvili sentenced on June 27 Nika Melia, leader of the opposition Ahali party, to eight months in prison for refusing to appear before the Tsulukiani Commission — a Georgian Dream parliament’s temporary investigative body tasked with probing alleged crimes committed by former officials.
Melia joins Givi Targamadze and four other opposition politicians, Giorgi Vashadze, Badri Japaridze, Mamuka Khazaradze, and Zurab Japaridze, who have already been sentenced to months in prison in similar cases. Another opposition leader, Nika Gvaramia, and Former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili, both in pretrial detention after rejecting court-imposed bail, await similar verdicts.
All have also been stripped of their right to hold office for two years.
In Melia’s case, Judge Galustashvili additionally fined him GEL 25,000 (about USD 9,100), upholding a 2019 Tbilisi City Court decision in the Cartu Bank bankruptcy case, where Melia was found guilty of abuse of power. He has not paid the fine since.
Nika Melia, who has been in pretrial detention after refusing to pay court-imposed bail in the Tsulukiani Commission’s non-compliance case, did not attend the announcement of the final verdict.
He also faces charges in a separate criminal case for contempt of court over a May 30 incident at Tbilisi City Court, where his pretrial detention was ordered following his controversial arrest the day before. In protest of Judge Irakli Shvangiradze’s apparent disregard of what Melia called his “abduction,” Melia splashed water on the judge. The Prosecutor’s Office says Nika Melia insulted the judge. Melia faces up to two years in prison in this case.
Dozens of international partners have condemned the prison sentences against the opposition figures, describing them as acts of political persecution and accusing the ruling Georgian Dream government of attempting to consolidate power.
Nika Melia did not hold any political office under the UNM from 2003 to 2012. He served as a UNM lawmaker from 2016 to 2021. In late 2023, he quit UNM and, together with Nika Gvaramia, founded the Ahali party in 2024 ahead of the parliamentary elections.
Tsulukiani Commission
The Georgian Dream parliament’s temporary investigative commission, chaired by GD veteran and former justice and culture minister Tea Tsulukiani, is tasked with probing alleged crimes committed by former officials. The commission has summoned alleged victims, former UNM government members, as well as the current opposition leaders, most of whom have refused to appear, considering the one-party parliament illegitimate.
Former Georgian Dream Interior Minister and Prime Minister, now opposition For Georgia party leader Giorgi Gakharia, is the only exception who agreed to testify before the commission. He maintained that his compliance did not amount to recognizing the Georgian Dream parliament, which his party continues to boycott.
Gakharia was recently summoned again over the Chorchana episode, which the Prosecutor’s Office is investigating under “sabotage” charges. Gakharia offered to appear online, citing a visit abroad. The commission declined a remote hearing and scheduled an in-person session for July 2, but Gakharia’s party says he will still be abroad on that date.
Two others – Nika Gvaramia and Mamuka Khazaradze – who previously refused to appear, were also resummoned. Both vowed to continue boycotting the GD commission from behind bars. Chair Tea Tsulukiani suggested the commission will likely ask the Prosecutor’s Office again to investigate their renewed non-compliance.
“If Gvaramia or Khazaradze does not join the commission remotely from their cells, it will not be surprising to anyone that we will probably have to send their second case of non-appearance to the Prosecutor’s Office,” Tsulukiani said in a June 23 interview with the pro-government channel Rustavi 2.
Under Georgian law, failing to comply with a temporary parliamentary investigative commission is a criminal offense punishable by up to one year in prison or a fine, along with a ban on holding public office for up to three years. So far, however, courts have imposed only prison sentences, with no fines issued.
The commission is addressing topics including alleged torture, business racketeering, and the August 2008 war, which it blames on the former UNM government and ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili.
On June 25, the Georgian Dream Parliament extended the Tsulukiani Commission’s term by one more month, until August 5.
Georgian Dream said the commission’s final report will be submitted to the country’s Constitutional Court to ban the UNM and its “successor parties.” GD says it plans to ban the opposition by the end of the year.
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