02 October 2021, 08:46
Saakashvili goes on hunger strike in prison
Mikheil (Mikhail) Saakashvili, the third president of Georgia, has declared a hunger strike, because he disagrees with the charges brought against him and treats himself as a political prisoner, Nino Lomdjariya, the country's Ombudsperson, has stated.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 1, Mikhail Saakashvili announced that he had returned to Georgia. On the same day, law enforcers detained him and took him to the Rustavi Prison.
In Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili was sentenced in absentia to three years of imprisonment in a case on abuse of power when pardoning those convicted for the murder of businessman Sandro Girgvliani and to six years of imprisonment in a case on the 2005 beating of MP Valery Gelashvili. The former president of Georgia also faces other charges.
Ms Lomdjariya has met Mikhail Saakashvili in prison to find out whether his rights had been infringed during his detention. At the end of the meeting, she said that Saakashvili had gone on a hunger strike because of his disagreement with the charges brought against him. "He (Saakashvili) has gone on a hunger strike because he disagrees with the charges and treats himself as a political prisoner. Being a citizen of Ukraine, he demands a meeting with the consul," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has translated Ms Lomdjariya's words pronounced on air of the "Mtavari Arkhi" TV Company.
According to her story, Saakashvili said that during his detention, he himself opened the door of the apartment, in which he was alone, for law enforcers. He showed no resistance; and no force was applied to him during the detention and later, Ms Lomdjariya has noted.
The Ombudsperson has added that she disagrees with the indictment article on one of the criminal cases against Saakashvili, but she has not specified the particular case in question.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 1, 2021 at 11:31 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Inna Kukudzhanova, Galina Gotua Source: CK correspondents
