Saakashvili, 53, has been on hunger strike for a month and a half to protest his “unlawful imprisonment”. His doctors reported that he lost consciousness on Thursday and is in a life-threatening condition. His lawyer said that authorities transferred Saakashvili to a hospital in Gori early Saturday morning. The politician will be treated there in intensive care.
Saakashvili was president of Georgia from 2004 to 2013 and then traveled abroad. Authorities arrested him immediately in early October when he returned to his homeland, where he was still serving a six-year prison sentence. The politician has long called his conviction a politically motivated abuse of power and called for a “fair trial.”
The former president has spent the past week and a half in a prison hospital, much to the ire of his supporters. They demand that Saakashvili be transferred to an ordinary civilian hospital, but the government does not want to cooperate. His personal doctor confirmed that Saakashvili has now decided to end his hunger strike.
Saakashvili’s condition is also closely monitored from abroad. The United States called on Georgia to respect its rights.
