All three were charged under Article 162¹ of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which covers “violence during an election campaign event.” However, while only one of the men is accused of assaulting Melia, the other two were members of Melia’s entourage and are accused of retaliatory violence under the same article. Ahali denounced the case, which has resurfaced nearly two years after the incident, as “absurd.” According to Ahali, Mirtskhulava is a party member, while Kobaidze is a guard for the party’s co-chair. “Reviving this case years later serves to intimidate and silence those who are critical of the government, an approach that, evidently, is not working,” it added.