Tbilisi, Dec 14 (AFP\/APP): Georgia’s jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili called off a hunger strike he had announced a few hours earlier Wednesday over the authorities’ failure to ensure a video link between the hospital where he is being held and his court hearing.<\/p>\n
Saakashvili has been a key figure of politics in the ex-Soviet Caucasus country for two decades and his latest protest put pressure on a long-running standoff with the political rivals who jailed him.<\/p>\n
The 54-year-old was transferred to hospital last year after an initial 50-day hunger strike to protest his jailing, which rights groups and allies abroad have said was politically motivated.<\/p>\n
Saakashvili’s lawyers had requested the deferral of his prison sentence on abuse of office charges, pointing to his poor health.<\/p>\n
A court hearing over their demand due earlier Wednesday was postponed after authorities failed to provide a video link between the courtroom and Saakashvili’s hospital.<\/p>\n
His lawyer Dito Sadzaglishvili told AFP on Wednesday that “Mikheil Saakashvili went on a hunger strike, demanding he be allowed to take part in the court hearings by video link.”<\/p>\n
Later in the evening Saakashvili called off the hunger strike, after an appeal by a group of European Parliament members.<\/p>\n
“I have now received a message from the MEPs categorically asking me to stop the hunger strike at this stage” so as to not give the authorities a pretext to accuse him of self-harm, he said in a written message seen by AFP.<\/p>\n
“The MEPs promise to mobilize all diplomatic efforts to ensure the protection of my minimum rights,” he added.<\/p>\n
– Poisoning concerns –<\/p>\n
The founder of Georgia’s main opposition force and president between 2004 and 2013, Saakashvili was convicted in absentia and sentenced to six years in prison in 2018.<\/p>\n
The pro-Western reformer was imprisoned in October 2021, days after secretly returning from exile in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Doctors — including those linked to Georgia’s rights ombudsperson and his legal team — have warned Saakashvili is suffering from serious neurological conditions.<\/p>\n
Rights group Empatia has said Saakashvili was physically and psychologically abused in detention and a doctor linked to Georgia’s rights ombudsperson said he had lost around 40 kilogrammes (88 pounds) in jail.<\/p>\n
“I am sick not because I did not eat forcefully, but because I was poisoned… because I was a victim of improper treatment for many months, which has been confirmed by the world’s best experts, including Nobel Prize laureates,” Saakashvili said in his message.<\/p>\n
In a report released by Saakashvili’s legal team, a United States-based toxicologist David Smith said testing had revealed the presence of heavy metals in Saakashvili’s body and that related symptoms likely “are the result of heavy metal poisoning” in custody.<\/p>\n
The authorities insist that Saakashvili is being given adequate medical care and promised to ensure he takes part in a court hearing next week.<\/p>\n
– ‘Political revenge’ –<\/p>\n
Commenting last week on the growing concerns about Saakashvili’s health, Prime Minister Garibashvili said: “Our lives are given to God, so I can’t really be responsible for anyone’s life.”<\/p>\n
He had earlier said that Saakashvili had been jailed because he refused to quit politics.<\/p>\n
The European Union and United States earlier said the government was responsible for providing Saakashvili with a proper medical care.<\/p>\n
In October, the Council of Europe rights watchdog called for the “release of political prisoners opposed to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin in the Russian Federation and other countries, including Mikheil Saakashvili”.<\/p>\n
Amnesty International has branded his treatment as “apparent political revenge”.<\/p>\n
Prior to his return to Georgia, Saakashvili — who is a Ukrainian national — had been appointed by President Volodymyr Zelensky to lead a government agency steering reforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tbilisi, Dec 14 (AFP\/APP): Georgia’s jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili called off a hunger strike he had announced a few hours earlier Wednesday over the authorities’ failure to ensure a video link between the hospital where he is being held and his court hearing. Saakashvili has […]<\/p>\n
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