Georgian police storm opposition party offices, detain its leader

Georgian police arrested Nika Melia and fired tear gas in a raid on his party headquarters.

Georgian police have stormed the party offices of opposition leader Nika Melia and detained him days after the prime minister resigned after a disagreement over whether to take the prominent politician into custody. Live television footage showed Melia, the leader of the United National Movement (UNM), the country’s main opposition party, being dragged from his party headquarters to be placed in pre-trial detention early on Tuesday. Hundreds of riot police used tear gas against his supporters who camped out in the building, images broadcast by Mtavari TV showed. Dozens of opposition backers were detained.