Supporters of imprisoned former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili are holding a protest rally near the prison in the Georgian city of Rustavi on Friday demanding the politician’s transfer to a foreign hos-pital for further treatment.
On April 26, a member of the medical council formed by the Georgian human rights commissioner reported that Saakashvili’s condition after two hunger strikes had worsened, and the authorities were unable to provide him with appropriate medical care. The politician’s family demanded that Saakashvili be transferred to a foreign hospital for treatment. Georgia’s penal system denied reports about Saakashvili’s worsening health as disinformation spread by the opposition. The politician is under round-the-clock intensive medical supervision and is provided with all medical services, the authorities said.
“We call on the leadership of Georgia to stop torturing (former) president, Saakashvili may not survive in this place. There is an urgent need to transfer him to a foreign clinic, otherwise, he will die,” one of the protesters told reporters during the rally that was broadcast by Saakashvili’s opposition United National Movement party.
Representatives of the party in a conversation with reporters said that the protests will continue in other regions of the country. The next rally is scheduled for Friday evening in the city of Batumi.
Saakashvili was the president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 2004 to 2013 and was barred from seeking a third term under the Georgian constitution. Shortly after the end of his term, Sa-akashvili left the country. He actively supported Ukraine’s Euromaidan in 2014 and 2015 and was appointed the governor of Ukraine’s Odessa region after receiving Ukrainian citizenship.
Saakashvili was put in jail on October 1 last year, shortly after returning to Georgia, where he was wanted on several charges, including abuse of power, stealing public money, and ordering a crackdown on a peaceful rally. He is serving a six-year sentence.—APP
