Georgian Interior Ministry officials have arrested the chairman of the opposition United National Movement party, MP Nika Melia, whose arrest was sanctioned by the Tbilisi court last week for failure to pay bail in the case of riots at the June 2019 rally, Georgia's First TV Channel reported on Tuesday.
According to the TV channel, Melia, along with his supporters, barricaded themselves in one of the offices of the party's office in Tbilisi. Law enforcement officers used pepper gas to disperse his supporters, after which they managed to detain him. The perimeter of the party building remains cordoned off by the police.
There are activists, supporters of the United National Movement, in the street, as well as leaders of other opposition parties. They are chanting slogans in protest against the actions of the police, but are avoiding clashed with law enforcement.
