Georgian opposition parties have condemned the arrest of one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, Nika Melia, as evidence of a “systemic crisis” in the government, with politicians describing the detention as part of a broader pattern of political persecution.

Melia was arrested on May 29 on administrative charges related to allegedly insulting law enforcement officers, just one day before his scheduled court hearing regarding his refusal to testify before the parliamentary temporary investigative commission studying the activities of the 2003-2012 government and its officials.

The Lelo-Strong Georgia coalition issued a statement calling the arrest a confirmation of a systemic crisis within the government vertical.

“The Russian government is giving new dimensions to the persecution of political opponents. The regime is in such a state of panic that it no longer formally waits for the farce to be staged in the courtroom. Against the background of declared repressions, the Georgian Dream has already started kidnapping political opponents from the streets,” the statement read.

Mamuka Khazaradze, leader of the Lelo party, took to social media to express solidarity with Melia.

“The system is so panicked that it can no longer withstand the pressure and is already kidnapping political opponents from the streets,” Khazaradze wrote on Facebook. “This is how regimes end – the oligarch’s Russian mission will soon end in Georgia too! My solidarity with Nika!”

The Strategy Aghmashenebeli party characterised Melia’s detention as “direct proof” that the Georgian Dream’s regime could no longer maintain power through legal means.

“This is a sign of weakness,” the party stated in an official release.

The party’s statement emphasised the calculated nature of the crackdown: “First they arrested Zurab Japaridze, then Nika Melia, cases have been opened against other leaders – this is a calculated campaign of repressions to prolong power through force.”

United National Movement Political Council Chairman Levan Khabeishvili compared the “Georgian Dream’s tactics to those used in Chechnya.”

“Nika Melia’s arrest is a classic example of how they fight political opponents in Kadyrov’s Chechnya – Ivanishvili is doing the same in Georgia,” Khabeishvili declared.

He described the current situation related to Melia’s arrest as abnormal.

“What is happening here today is not normal. The way they conducted the special operation for Nika Melia’s arrest, postponed the court, supposedly to judge him tomorrow and arrested him.”

Khabeishvili argued that all party divisions had been eliminated and strongly called for the regime’s overthrow, stating, “All party boundaries are gone; the only solution is to overthrow Ivanishvili’s regime!”

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Melia was detained under Article 173 of Georgia’s Administrative Code of Offences, which covers verbal insults or other insulting actions against law enforcement officers during or in connection with the performance of official duties.

On April 29, Nika Melia was granted bail of GEL 50,000 after failing to appear at the session of the temporary investigative commission. The pre-trial hearing was initially scheduled for May 29 but was subsequently postponed to May 30.