Nikoloz Saakashvili, father of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili released a post on Facebook earlier today in which he urged his son to stop hunger strike he began a week ago.

“Hunger strike will harm your health. As a doctor I can confirm that. Moreover, it will benefit your enemies. You need to mobilise your energy,” Nikoloz Saakashvili said. 

He noted that he had no other options, but social media, to communicate with his son and hoped that his post would  reach the ex-president. 

Saakashvili went on hunger strike on October 1, the same day he was detained in Tbilisi. 

He left Georgia in 2013, shortly after the Georgian Dream coalition defeated his United National Movement in the 2012 parliamentary race.

Saakashvili claimed he returned after eight years in political exile to mobilize his supporters and ‘save the country from the regime of the Georgian Dream’. He was arrested shortly after his return on 1st of October. Shortly after his arrest, he announced that he would go on a hunger strike.

Saakashvili was convicted for abuse of authority back in 2018 and sentenced to six years in prison. He has also been charged with four other cases, which are ongoing.