Opposition politician Nika Melia, co-founder of the "Akhali" party and one of the leaders of the "Coalition for Change," has been sentenced to seven months in prison for failing to appear before a parliamentary investigative commission probing the actions of the previous government.
The sentence was handed down by Tbilisi City Court Judge Nino Galustashvili. In addition to imprisonment, Melia has been banned from holding political office for two years. He was also fined 25,000 lari for failing to comply with a 2019 court ruling, in which he was accused of abuse of power.
Melia is currently in pretrial detention. He was administratively detained on May 29.
Melia is the sixth opposition figure to receive a prison sentence for failing to appear before the temporary parliamentary commission. Earlier today, opposition politician Givi Targamadze was also sentenced to seven months in prison in a similar case.
