Georgian police detain 20 protesters after PM's resignation, report says

Police in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi clashed on Friday with opposition activists, detaining 20 protesters near the parliament, a day after the prime minister resigned, the Sputnik Georgia news outlet reported.

Giorgi Gakharia, who had been prime minister since 2019, announced his resignation on Thursday, citing a disagreement with his own team over the detention of Nika Melia, a prominent opposition politician. Melia, chairman of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party, called for early elections in the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people following the prime minister's resignation.

Melia had been accused of inciting violence at street protests in June 2019, a charge he has dismissed as politically motivated. A court in the capital Tbilisi on Wednesday ordered that Melia be taken into custody for allegedly failing to post bail.

Following Gakharia's resignation, the Interior Ministry announced it was postponing carrying out the order to take Melia into custody. The U.S. State Department expressed concern at recent developments in Georgia, and called on parties "to exercise restraint and avoid any actions or rhetoric that could escalate tensions or result in violence."

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