UNM urges int’l community, NGOs to take ‘all measures’ to protect Saakashvili
The UNM asks the citizens of Georgia not to allow Saakashvili’s transfer to a prison clinic because it would ‘equal his murder.’ Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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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 UNM appeals to the international community, accredited diplomatic corps, international and local NGOs to take measures to ensure the ex-president’s ‘right to life’ and ‘personal safety.’
The opposition party asks the citizens of Georgia not to allow Saakashvili’s transfer to a prison clinic because it would ‘equal his murder.’
Finally, the statement urges the government of Georgia to ensure the ex-president’s health, as they are ‘fully responsible for Saakashvili’s life.’
Saakashvili, who is serving time in Rustavi Prison No. 12, was arrested on October 1.
He stands convicted on two counts of abuse of power and is currently facing five additional charges, including illegal seizure of property, embezzlement, illegal rally dispersal and illegal border crossing.
Saakashvili denies all charges, considers himself a political prisoner, and has been on a hunger strike since his arrest.
Health minister Ekaterine Tikaradze has said that conditions in the hospital of prison No.18, where former president Mikheil Saakashvili may be brought, will be rechecked. Tikaradze explains that if the prison clinic does not meet Saakashvili’s needs, then other inmates might also ‘be at risk.’
Lawyers of ex. president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili demand he be treated in a civil hospital and not in prison as his condition is allegedly deteriorating. Saakashvili’s lawyer, Nika Gvaramia, says Saakashvili may be killed during instigated unrest in the prison hospital, which is why it is unacceptable to treat him there.
Georgian former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1 after eight years in political exile, has demanded the Georgian Dream (GD) government take him to court, where he will provide ‘all true information’ about him both for the international community and the Georgian people.
The third president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who was detained in Tbilisi on October 1, has been officially charged for the illegal crossing of the state border earlier today. Six other criminal charges are filed against 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.
Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Lyudmyla Denisova, is currently visiting former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili in Rustavi Prison No.12. Denisova says that she's come to Georgia to find out whether Saakashvili’s human rights are being protected.
Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Lyudmyla Denisova, has said that former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili’s rights have been breached on several grounds. After visiting Saakashvili in Rustavi Prison No.12 earlier today, Denisova reported that Saakashvili’s rights have been violated on procedural, medical, and religious grounds.
The opposition United National Movement (UNM) is holding a rally in the western Georgian town of Zugdidi demanding to release Georgia’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili. UNM mayoral candidate in Zugdidi Anzor Melia, who is the father of UNM chair Nika Melia said in his address to the party supporters that he is happy to be running for Zugdidi mayor.
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.
Police have arrested two individuals, identified only as E.A. and R Ch., for attacking a member of a rally in support of imprisoned third President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili in Rustavi.