Georgian opposition leader Nika Melia has become the latest opposition figure to be sent to jail this week in a crackdown described by observers as an unprecedented attack on the country's democracy.
The South Caucausus state has seen months of political turmoil since the government halted its path to join the EU in the wake of disputed elections.
Six prominent politicians have been given jail terms, and another two are in pre-trial detention, so that most of the leaders of the pro-Western opposition are now behind bars.
On Friday, Nika Melia, one of the leaders of Coalition for Change, was jailed for eight months by a court in Tbilisi and former opposition MP Givi Targamadze was given seven months.
The scale and speed of the crackdown has come as a shock, and Nika Melia accused the government of trying to break the courage of Georgians.
