Police Use Fire Engine and Tear Gas to Arrest Georgia Opposition Leader

Dozens of Georgian police officers stormed the headquarters of the country’s main opposition party and arrested its leader Tuesday, escalating a political crisis that has already resulted in the prime minister’s resignation.

Photographs from the scene showed police using a fire engine to climb into an upper window of the United National Movement party’s headquarters in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, to arrest party leader Nika Melia. 

Once inside the building, police faced off with Melia’s supporters who had barricaded an office doorway with a desk. Footage showed officers spraying a substance into the crowd of Melia’s supporters, before the 41-year-old opposition leader was eventually dragged out of the building, where police used tear gas on supporters gathered outside.

Melia, chairman of the United National Movement, has been accused of inciting violence at protests outside parliament in June 2019 – charges he says are politically motivated. On Wednesday, a Tbilisi court ordered his arrest for failing to pay an increased bail fee over the charges.

Debate over whether to carry out the arrest – likely to prove an incendiary move in Georgia’s polarised political climate – resulted in Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announcing his resignation on Thursday, citing disagreements within his own team over enforcing the arrest order, which he feared would fuel political divisions.

Gakharia, of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said he hoped the decision to resign would reduce the polarisation in the country, which has been mired in crisis since disputed parliamentary elections in October. Opposition parties say that vote was rigged, and have refused to recognise the results and boycotted parliament in response, demanding fresh elections.

In the wake of Gakharia’s resignation – he was replaced by Irakli Gharibashvili – the Interior Ministry said it would postpone executing the arrest warrant, and the opposition demanded snap elections.

But on Tuesday, despite calls from lawmakers in countries including the U.S. and Lithuania not to proceed with the arrest, Melia was taken into pre-trial detention. As outrage grew over the arrest and thousands of protesters gathered, Georgia’s interior ministry released a statement calling on opposition supporters “to protest peacefully, to refrain from violent actions and not to interfere with the representatives of the police.”

“Any attempted violence will be stopped immediately by the police, and any person violating public order will be held accountable with the full force of the law,” warned the statement. 

Melia’s arrest has drawn immediate international criticism, with Western lawmakers and diplomats expressing their concern and calling for restraint.

“Shocked by the scenes at UNM headquarters this morning,” tweeted Mark Clayton, the UK’s ambassador to Georgia.

“Violence and chaos in Tbilisi are the last thing Georgia needs right now. I urge all sides to act with restraint, now and in the coming days.”

U.S. Congressman Adam Kinzinger called the raid “a very concerning move,” while the U.S. Embassy in Georgia described the move as a “backwards” step on the country’s democratic path.

"Force and aggression are not the solution to resolving Georgia's political differences,” said a statement from the embassy. “Today, Georgia has moved backward on its path toward becoming a stronger democracy."