NAfter several weeks of hunger strike, the imprisoned Georgian ex-president and opposition leader Mikhail Saakashvili was transferred to a prison hospital. Shortly after the news became known, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Tbilisi on Monday evening to demonstrate for Saakashvili’s release.
Under “Saakashvili” calls, around 40,000 people gathered in the central square of the Georgian capital, as reported by AFP journalists. The head of Saakashvili’s MNE party, Nika Melia, spoke of the beginning of a “massive and lasting protest movement”. This will only stop when the ex-president is released from prison and early elections are called. Hundreds of police officers took up positions in front of the government buildings in Tbilisi, while the demonstrators marched towards the headquarters of the head of government.
Doctors fear complications
Saakashvili was taken to a medical facility for prisoners “to avoid deterioration in his health” after 39 days of hunger strike, the law enforcement authorities said. After an examination, doctors recommended urgent transfer to a well-equipped clinic, as otherwise the opposition leader could face “complications”.
According to the Georgian human rights commissioner Nino Lomjaria, the placement in the detention center does not meet the demands of the examining doctors. Saakashvili’s supporters have been demanding his release or at least his placement in a civilian instead of a prison hospital for weeks.
The TV station Priweli reported that the prisoners in the prison hospital had instigated a “noise mutiny” after the ex-president was admitted. They shouted insults against Saakashvili, who led a campaign against organized crime during his presidency.
After eight years in exile, Saakashvili returned to Georgia in early October and was immediately arrested. During his presidency from 2004 to 2013 he had followed a pro-Western course. In 2018 he was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison for alleged abuse of office.
Saakashvili, who now has Ukrainian citizenship, rejects the accusation as politically motivated. He immediately went on a hunger strike after he was arrested.
The Georgian secret service accuses Saakashvili of planning a coup from prison. The MNE rejects this as a “fairy tale”. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili recently sparked outrage by saying that Saakashvili had “the right to kill himself”.
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