Georgian former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been on hunger strike since his arrest in Tbilisi on October 1, has demanded from convicted former soldiers, Roman Shamatava, Irakli Pirtskhalava and Giorgi Tsaadze, to stop hunger strike in his support.
“I am demanding from you to stop the hunger strike immediately,” Saakashvili wrote on his Facebook account earlier today, noting that ‘his sacrifice’ is enough.
All the three former soldiers are serving their term in the same Rustavi No.12 prison where Saakashvili was placed on October 1.
Shamatava was sentenced to 16 years in prison back in 2018 for a high-profile murder. However, due to amnesty, his term was decreased to 12 years.
A concilium of doctors gathered in Rustavi prison today to check Saakashvili’s health per the request of his personal doctor Nikoloz Kipshidze.
Kipshidze and the members of Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM) claim that the former president’s health has worsened over the past days as for Saakashvili, ‘who has a blood disease, hunger is never allowed.’
Saakashvili, for his part, says that he will continue the hunger strike even if hospitalised.
Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili stated earlier today that ‘Saakashvili is a professional liar’ and is trying to ‘cheat and mislead’ the public by his hunger strike, ‘while he is eating honey and drinking fresh juices.’
He vowed that the UNM, ‘the evil force,’ will be ‘finally ended’ following the municipal election run-offs on October 30.
Saakashvili, who returned to Georgia after eight years in political exile just ahead of Georgian October 2 municipal elections, aimed to support his United National Movement opposition party to win the race and then replace the Georgian Dream government via snap
parliamentary elections.
Now he is a citizen of Ukraine and is holding an official post in the National Reforms Council of the country.
He was convicted in absentia in Georgia back in 2018 for abuse of authority and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Saakashvili has also been charged with four other offences which are still in courts.
