Prosecutor’s Office reportedly seeks bail for opposition politician Elisashvili

Publika has reported that the Prosecutor's Office has filed a motion to bail opposition politician Aleko Elisashvili out of detention.

Police detained Strong Georgia member Aleko Elisashvili on 4 December in Tbilisi, following a scuffle outside the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel on Liberty Square, where the opposition was meeting.

Elisashvili, who is an MP, was reportedly detained for attacking Ali Babayev, a Georgian Dream member. Babayev claimed that Elisashvili first insulted and then physically assaulted him. Elisashvili’s charges counted as a criminal offence, meaning that he can get charged and prosecuted for them regardless of his status as MP.

Elisashvili's party claims that he was provoked and that he was the ruling party’s ‘personal prisoner’. Elisashvili’s lawyer also said that he was provoked, noting that the opposition politician was the target of an attack and that he was defending himself.