UNM MP hospitalized due to hunger strike for ex-pres. Saakashvili

David Kirkitadze, an MP of the United National Movement – the largest opposition group in the country – on Friday has been hospitalized due to health complications as he has been on hunger strike since  December 16.  

He has been on hunger strike with three other MPs from the party – Ana Tsitlidze, Abdula Ismailov and Temur Janashia – demanding the transportation of currently imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili abroad for treatment.  

The MPs claim the life of the former official is “utterly complicated” and he may die.  

A trial hearing on granting Saakashvili’s release or the postponement of the rest of his six-year-term for abuse of power was conducted on Thursday.  

Saakashvili, a citizen of Ukraine, was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021, after eight years in self-imposed political exile.