US Ambassador on Saakashvili: we are closely monitoring his condition
Ambassador Degnan urged the Georgian voters and supporters of political parties to stay calm, noting that ‘I hope that supporters will allow voters to come out on a Saturday in a calm environment to cast their votes.’ Photo: US Embassy in Georgia.
Tweet 
Share
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly C. Degnan says that she is glad a multidisciplinary team is monitoring former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili in prison, noting that the US is also closely observing his condition.
Saakashvili, who has been on hunger strike since his arrest in Tbilisi on October 1, refused to receive ‘all hunger-related treatment’ yesterday except non-starvation-related medicines after his Ukrainian lawyer Evgen Grushovets was denied entry to Georgia.
Saakashvili, who served as the country’s third president from 2004 to 2013, refuses to be treated in the prison hospital due to ‘serious safety concerns’ and demands to undergo treatment in a civil hospital, however, Justice Minister Rati Bregadze states that the prison hospital is fully equipped and there is no need for Saakashvili’s transfer elsewhere.
He faces several criminal charges and has been sentenced to six years imprisonment in two cases in absentia back in 2018.
Municipal election run-offs
Ambassador Degnan also touched upon the municipal election run-offs which will take place in two days and stated that she hopes Georgians ‘will be able to have confidence in the outcome of these elections.’
I sincerely hope that Georgian voters who are voting for their officials to get to work on behalf of their country will make their voices heard,” said Ambassador Degnan.
Local self-government election run-offs are scheduled for October 30 in 20 of 64 constituencies of Georgia including all five large cities of the country - Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Rustavi, Batumi and Poti. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Candidates of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and the largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party will compete in 17 of the 20 election constituencies.
Ruling party’s assembly ahead of election run-offs
Ambassador Degnan also spoke of the pro-ruling party rally which took place yesterday in central Tbilisi and said that ‘it’s a little risky’ to have big rallies when coronavirus cases soar in the country referring to ‘any political party.’
This doesn’t seem like a good time to be bringing large groups of people together. That said, there’s a constitutional right to gather, to assemble, to express your views peacefully and the key word here is peacefully,” said Ambassador Degnan.
She urged the Georgian voters and supporters of political parties to stay calm, noting that ‘I hope that supporters will allow voters to come out on a Saturday in a calm environment to cast their votes.’
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has addressed crowds at a large assembly organized by the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party today, where he said that the country has a government which is ‘well-aware of the needs and necessities’ of its people and is taking ‘all steps’ to ensure Georgia’s stable and peaceful development.
The United National Movement (UNM) opposition party has called on the international community and NGOs to ‘take all measures’ to protect former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been on hunger strike for 26 days. The UNM chairman Nika Melia said yesterday that Saakashvili needs to be brought to a multi-profile civil clinic and not to a prison hospital as the Georgian Dream government officials had offered.
The Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) says that 2,088,722 voters have been registered to participate in municipal election run-offs on Saturday, while the number of eligible voters stood at 3,497,345 in the first round of elections on October 2. The total number of voters in Tbilisi, which will also hold run-offs, is 1,002,525.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has visited the recently detained ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili in the prison of Rustavi and has announced that Saakashvili considers himself a political prisoner and starts a hunger strike. Lomjaria also stated that as a citizen of Ukraine Saakashvili requests a meeting with the Ukrainian consul.
Overall six criminal charges are filed against recently arrested Georgian ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili who has been convicted to six years of imprisonment in two cases while four other criminal cases are still being heard in Tbilisi City Court.
Georgia’s former President Mikheil Saakashvili has been detained today, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has announced. "Our law enforcement agencies had prior information about his (Saakashvili’s) movement from Ukraine to Georgia and the process was under the control” Garibashvili stated.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan has expressed the hope that former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s supporters ‘will act responsibly’ during his trial, urging that the protest should be peaceful.