Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili will not end the hunger strike, his lawyer Dmitry Sadzaglishvili said on October 12. According to him, the politician considers a hunger strike to be the only way to fight the Georgian authorities.
“Despite the deteriorating state of my health, I will by no means stop the hunger strike, since this is the only instrument of struggle that I now have,” Sadzaglishvili quoted his client as saying. “Georgia.Online”…
In addition, Saakashvili wants to be at large before the second round of local elections to be held in Georgia on October 30, the lawyer said.
According to Sadzaglishvili, the politician calls on his associates to take part in a mass protest rally on October 14. This, according to Saakashvili, will prove that the Georgian society “has dignity and self-esteem.”
The former Georgian leader was detained October 1 at an apartment in Tbilisi after his return to the country ahead of local elections. A criminal case was initiated against him on illegal crossing of the country’s border.
Saakashvili arrived in the country by ferry “Vilnius” to the port of Poti, after which he visited Abash, Batumi, Kutaisi and Tbilisi. The politician himself noted that he came to Georgia through a third country with the help of foreign friends.
On October 3, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky recalled that Saakashvili is a Ukrainian citizen, so he will personally deal with the issue of his return. However, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili stressed that the politician will be able to return to Ukraine only after he has served his entire prison term in his homeland.
On October 4, the ex-president of Georgia went on a hunger strike in protest until his release and his associates. He declared that he was ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of the people. On October 10, the ex-president’s personal physician Nikoloz Kipshidze said that Saakashvili’s condition became worse, the politician needed hospitalization.
The ex-president was convicted in absentia of the murder of banker Sandro Girgvliani and the beating of deputy Valery Gelashvili. In the first case, he was sentenced to three years in prison, in the second – to six. Saakashvili is also involved in the cases of dispersing the opposition rally on November 7, 2007, the pogrom of the Imedi TV company and the embezzlement of funds from the state budget – they continue to be considered by the courts.