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Strasbourg Court Considers Nicanor Melia's Arrest and Detention as a Preventive Measure to Be Legal
With today's decision, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) confirmed that Nicanor Melia's arrest and preventive detention were legal and in full compliance with the standards of the European Convention. At the same time, the court unequivocally established that there were no political motives in Nikanor Melia's arrest and did not share the arguments of the applicant.
As is known to the public, during the June 2019 rally, a part of the citizens gathered at the rally under the leadership and direct participation of Nicanor Melia tried to break into the Parliament. In view of the above, he was charged with organising, directing and participating in group violence and was granted bail in the amount of 30,000 GEL as a preventive measure. The court ordered his electronic surveillance.
At the rally on November 1, 2020, Nicanor Melia removed his electronic monitoring bracelet as a sign of protest, thereby violating the conditions of his bail. Accordingly, the Tbilisi City Court increased the bail amount by 40,000 GEL. Since Nikanor Melia refused to pay the bail, according to the court's decision, he was replaced with a preventive measure - bail by imprisonment. After posting bail, he was released on May 10, 2021.
The European Court fully shared the argumentation of the Ministry of Justice (along with the evidence presented) and considered that no article of the European Convention was violated against the applicant.